Hysteria: The 76th Hunger Games
by TheEngineeringGames
Summary: The Second Rebellion has left Panem in a fragile state. Korrina Ovidius never wanted to be put in the position of President but now that she's here, she's going to do whatever it takes to keep Panem away from another war. Except she's out of time. The Hunger Games will start again to punish the rebels and all she can do is hope this won't cause hysteria.
1. Country Over Self

**Prologue 1:**

 _Korrina Ovidius, Interim President of Panem_

Korrina Ovidius shakes her head as she puts her face in her hands, struggling to take deep breaths to keep herself calm. Only two weeks of this and the stress is already driving her crazy. Why would she ever accept this job? Why did people even want her to take over to run the country in the first place?

She'll never know the answer to the second question. But the first? Well…she thought maybe she could make a difference for Panem. Make something right after the war took so many lives. Broke apart families. Destroyed an entire District. What was the point of the war? The Capitol is still in charge, just over a significantly reduced population.

But maybe Korrina can do something to make the war not completely pointless. She can't do anything to bring back the lives of those who died, no matter how much she desperately wishes she could for one person. But she's only one woman. One woman who never strived to sit in the Presidential Manor.

That dream belonged to the woman she loved.

"This was a terrible idea," Korrina mutters to herself, taking in a shaky breath. There's so much pressure on her to right the wrongs of President Snow's era. A knock on the door has her sitting up, straightening the papers on her desk and putting a neutral look on her face. "Come in."

The door opens, revealing three people who are stuck in this mess with her. First to enter is proud and patriotic Basilius Cosima, pushing back his long gray hair as he grins over at Korrina. Of course, he's the only one who isn't stressed about being in this role. This is what he always strived towards but could never achieve with Snow in power. Next to enter the room is Tiberius Dorika, hair freshly dyed and face a little red from a skin treatment, revealing the efforts he takes to stay young looking. At least Tiberius has the decency to appear neutral about this meeting. But then again, that was why Korrina picked him. And finally, the last of the party enters the room. Catriona Seoras, the youngest one here, trying to hold her head up proudly, even if her eyes betray her timidness. Korrina is counting on the woman to be her support against the strong personalities of Basilius and Tiberius.

"Please, sit down," Korrina motions to the three seats in front of her. She almost smiles to herself when she sees the order they sit in. Basilius, Tiberius, Cat. The extreme patriot and devoted fan of the Hunger Games. The neutral one. And the one who lost too much to the war. Well, Korrina just hopes this meeting ends without a fight. "Welcome to the first meeting of the President's Council. Now, I'm sure you have questions about how this will work. I'm afraid I'm just as unsure as you are. Nothing like this has been done before, but I hope it stays this way."

"What exactly is our rank, Madam President?" Basilius asks her, making her cringe internally at the title of president.

Korrina takes off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tries to figure out that answer. None of this comes easy to her. She shouldn't be the one sitting behind this desk. "You're ranked right below me. You're to provide me with council so I can make the best decisions, not just for the Capitol but for all of Panem." She pauses to put her glasses back on, staring at all three of them for a moment. "I'm sure you're all aware of how different your political beliefs are. That was an intentional decision. But I ask you, can we please get through these meetings without yelling at each other?"

Korrina waits for each of them to give affirmations to this, Basilius unsurprisingly taking the longest. He always has been stubborn and bullheaded, and Korrina knows he probably will start yelling if he really gets fired up. But she nods her head at them, picking up a piece of paper from her desk, staring at the different faces and names. "Alright. The reason I brought you here is a very delicate subject." She hands out identical papers to the three of them, letting out a sigh as they look over the names. "How are we going to punish the remaining rebels?"

"Send their children into the Hunger Games!" Basilius answers immediately and his suggestion makes Korrina's stomach twist. That's the last thing she wants to do.

Cat scoffs at this and sets down her paper, leaning forward to stare at Basilius. "Yeah and start another rebellion? Great idea. The games were what started the war and you want to bring them back?"

"It will instill fear in them once more!" Basilius's voice starts to raise with his excitement level for the games. "Make the children of rebels suffer. Remind them what happens when they fight against us."

Tiberius clears his throat, stopping Cat from arguing further with Basilius. "I agree with both of you." Korrina gives him a small smile at this, happy to see her choice was right with him. "There's a very serious risk of rebellion if the games continue. But…the games have worked. They started as a punishment."

They all turn to look over at Korrina, waiting for her decision, but she just can't come up with a solution. She doesn't want the games to return and spark another war, and she's almost certain that will happen. "I will not lose another loved one to a war started by the Hunger Games."

"Korrina," Tiberius starts and just from his tone, she knows she won't like what he has to say.

"I can't," she gets out, voice cracking from the pain of losing her rock, her love, her wife.

Cat reaches out and takes Korrina's hand, trying to comfort her. Basilius is the one to lean forward and answer her. "Korrina, do you think you're the only one who lost someone in this war? You're not and all those people don't want to see a war start again. But they want to see punishment against those who took their loved ones away. Don't you?"

 _Yes_. So badly, she wants to see the people who killed Elaine punished. Except…the games aren't there to punish Capitol citizens. Bringing back the Hunger Games won't change the fact that Capitol rebels killed Elaine, all for her role in politics.

Tiberius clears his throat and Korrina looks up at him. "Korrina, you're not just a civilian anymore. You're the President of Panem. You have to make the tough decisions that are best for everyone, not just yourself now."

"I don't want the games returning," Korrina shakes her head at this, knowing they can hear the pain and uncertainty in her voice, but she doesn't care. They already know how completely unprepared she is for this role.

"We don't either," Tiberius says, pausing when Basilius clears his throat. "Well, Basilius does. But we need to act now or people will start to think the rebels won't be punished."

"I don't have any idea what else to do," Korrina puts her head in her hands, wishing she never accepted this job. How is she supposed to make a decision that will send 23 – no, _21_ – children to their death each year? She hates the bloodshed. "I need more time to come up with a solution!"

"We don't have time," Basilius counters and Korrina picks up her head to stare over at him, resenting him a little for his love of bloodshed in the games. "If we're going to have a games, we only have three months to prepare everything."

"Korrina!" Cat yells out in disbelief and Korrina slowly looks over, hating the look of disappointment she gets from the younger woman. "You can't seriously be considering this!"

"Cat, what choice do I have?" Korrina asks her, full of defeat. She can't make these decisions. She can barely make the right decisions for herself, let alone an entire country.

"Lots of choices!" Cat says loudly, staring at the others with wide eyes. "Are you three serious right now? Sending 22 children of rebels into the arena will start another war!"

"Don't send just rebels," Tiberius offers to this and Korrina snaps her gaze over to him, feeling her stomach twist at the thought of sending innocent children in to the arena when this is meant as a punishment for the rebels…but isn't that what has been done for 75 years? "Just rebels will definitely get any remaining groups fired up enough to fight again."

Korrina lets out a loud sigh and leans back in her chair, feeling exhausted from this decision. She never should have accepted this job. But now she has a whole country depending on her to make the right call. "I want your official decisions on the matter. Yes or no, will we start the Hunger Games again? Basilius."

"Yes, 100% yes."

"Cat?"

"Absolutely not!"

Korrina sighs, having expected these responses. She turns to the final one, having a feeling what he'll say and knowing she isn't going to personally agree, but he's right. She isn't making decisions for herself now. She's making them for the whole country. "Tiberius?"

The man takes a minute to respond, only making Korrina's stress levels grow. "Yes, but just until we have punished all of the main rebels."

Korrina isn't happy with his answer, yet… it's a solution she hadn't thought of before. Yes, maybe they can do this for only a few years, make it clear to everyone that it is a punishment, not entertainment like they had become in recent years. "Okay," she finally says, sighing as she feels like she's still making the wrong decision, yet it's a temporary compromise for her until she can come up with a better solution. "This is my decision until I can come up with something better. The Hunger Games will continue as punishment until someone from each of the thirty main rebel families has been selected. Then the games will end. Someone please set up a press announcement. Now," Korrina says as she stands up, followed immediately by the other three and unsettling her that this is now her normal life. "I'm going to the Gamemaker Center to see if it's actually feasible to complete this in time."

"Who will be the Head Gamemaker now that Plutarch is dead?" Tiberius hesitantly says, watching Korrina carefully for her response.

"The only person I can actually trust, my son." Korrina answers as she gathers her papers and puts them into her bag. Then she looks up at the three people in front of her, shaking her head at them, "Let's hope Myron is up for this."

* * *

 **Welcome aboard my newest adventure! Sit tight because it's going to be a wild ride as we explore just what went down in my headcanon (hence dubbed the Engineering-verse) during the Second Rebellion and how the Hunger Games were continued! Really, this story is me just further developing my world.**

 **Now, this is a non-SYOT story, but I hope that won't deter you from reading! As such, this is more my 'fun' project (all my stories are fun), where it will occasionally get put on the back burner so I can focus on my SYOTs. If you don't like the long update time, sorry but that's how it's going to work. Just putting that out there now. This story is going to be focusing on a few Capitolites (Korrina obviously being one), and four different tributes. I'll be honest with you guys, the victor for this has already been mentioned before in a different story. I won't say which story but if you really wanted to, you could figure out who wins. The victor isn't really the focus of this story.**

 **So if you're new to my stories, welcome! I'm Lauren and I like writing THG stories for fun when I have time around being a graduate student. Which...isn't that much time but I promise my stories will be finished eventually. Feel free to check out some of my other stories if you're curious about what Panem is like many years in the future from this! And if you're one of the usual suspects, welcome back to another story and thanks for be willing to check out another one of my stories!**

 **And a few fun things before I stop rambling. First, would escort submissions be something you're interested in for this story? They'll have a bigger role in this story compared to usual games for reasons yet to be revealed... I can come up with some but I think it's more fun to get escorts from the readers! So if you're interested, send me a PM or something and I'll figure out a form! Second, this story is part of my sponsor points system. So each review gets you points that can be used in an SYOT for say... a hot tub or a cool hat. Or something actually practical. Either way, reviews will give you points for other stories!**

 **Alright I'll stop rambling now. Let me know what you think! And why not: which of the Capitolites in this chapter are you curious about and want to see more of?**

 **OH THERE'S A STORY BLOG! I nearly forgot! Anyone familiar with my other stories knows that I love story blogs. This one is still in progress and I'll be adding a lot more to it as we get further into this story! The link is hysteria76th . weebly . com (just make sure to remove the spaces!)**


	2. The Future of the Games

**Prologue 2:**

 _Myron Ovidius, Head Gamemaker_

"Mother, it just can't be done!" Myron says for the fifth time, getting a fifth sigh of annoyance from his mother. Sorry, not just mother, _Madam President._ Just because she has a fancy title now, doesn't mean he won't tell her like it is. That's the way she raised him. "I mean, I'm flattered that you would pick me as Head Gamemaker, but still, it can't be done. Not in our time limit."

Korrina sits on the corner of the Head Gamemaker's desk – _his_ desk, still a bizarre thought – as she goes through past plans left behind before the war. "We need to make it be done. There has to be some option. I don't have any choice but to have the games continue."

"Mother, you have plenty of choices!" Myron shakes his head at her, getting her to briefly look up at him, eyebrow raised, before turning back to the papers in her hand. "You're President of Panem! What you say goes!"

Korrina slams the papers back on the desk, making Myron jump a little as her face shows anger and sadness. "I don't want to be like Snow! I'm trying to make the best decision for everyone in this country. Not just me, or you, or the snooty people who are all fighting to take my job when it's put up for a vote!" She sighs loudly at this, closing her eyes and dropping the neutral façade she always keeps to hide the pain of everything that happened in the war. "Elaine would have been such a better president than I am."

Myron gets up at this, feeling his own heart breaking at the mention of Mom. He moves over to Korrina, giving her a tight hug. She holds on to him tightly, shaking her head as she stifles sobs. "I miss her so much too. But I know you're doing your very best and Mom would be proud of what you're doing." Korrina pushes him away at this, hating showing weakness and crying in front of people, even her son. He pretends to not see her discretely wipe away tears as he returns to his seat, picking up the papers she set down. He lets out a sigh, knowing that she's trying her best, and so far, he hasn't done very much to help her. "There's a lot of really good arena ideas here…but I really don't think we have the time to build a new arena. Unless…"

"Unless what?" Korrina asks, staring over at him as he thinks, hating the idea he's coming up with, but not knowing what else they can do in three months.

"Well…just listen to me on this," Myron starts, seeing the look on his mother's face that shows she's ready to hate whatever his idea is, simply because it's related to the games. "You said these games are happening to punish the rebels. Well…why not remind them of what happens when you rebel against the Capitol?"

Korrina watches him carefully, hiding emotions from her face once more. "What are you suggesting?" She asks, but he can tell she's connected the dots.

Myron sighs as he sets the papers back onto the desk for another day. "Why don't we use the ruins of District Twelve?"

Korrina keeps her face neutral as she thinks this over for a minute, leaving Myron to question the decision. Really, it's terrible to use the destroyed District as an arena. But if they want to punish rebels, why not remind them? Finally, his mother sighs and reaches for the intercom microphone, pressing the button to speak to the other Gamemakers who had been quickly gathered here. "Akakios, please come to the Head Gamemaker's office immediately."

She sets down the microphone loudly, showing her displeasure. "I don't really like this idea. But, I don't really like any part of this." She falls quiet as they wait for Akakios to get here, staring at Myron. "Myron, just promise me that you're not going to make a show out of this. And I'm getting you a guard. I don't think the reaction will be very good when we make this announcement."

"I won't," Myron responds as there's a knock on the door. He hadn't quite realized just how serious the situation is since Korrina hasn't talked to him at all about her new job as president. "Come in!"

The young man Myron started with enters the room, grinning over at Myron before getting a polite smile when he notices Korrina. "Madam President."

"Oh stop that," Korrina shakes her head at him as he enters the room, closing the door before heading towards the seat across from Myron. "You've known me for years. Keep calling me Korrina." She shakes her head and mumbles to herself, but Myron and Akakios both easily hear her. "I hate being called Madam President."

Akakios clears his throat, smiling at both of them. "So, what have you called me here for?"

"You're the arena expert," Myron starts, getting a scoff from Akakios.

"I've been working here for two years," his friend shakes his head at this, face showing the pain of losing his mentor to the war. "Mae was the expert."

"Well you're the expert now," Korrina says a little harshly, getting a nod from Akakios, even if his face shows that he still is getting over the loss. "And I need you to be an expert."

"So they're really continuing?" Akakios asks her, face curious as he looks up at her. Myron finds himself grateful for his friend still treating her like a second mom and not the president. Even if she'll never admit it to him, he knows Korrina hates this position. "We were speculating downstairs when you called the few of us remaining. Tatiana thought for sure you were summoning us here to tell us to find a new job."

"You'll still need to do that eventually, but not for a few more years," Korrina lets out a sigh at this, her face growing weary at the thought of starting the games once more. Myron would have been excited like Akakios is, if he didn't have a front row seat to see the turmoil this decision is causing his mother. "What I need from you Akakios is to create an arena in three months."

"That's not possible," Akakios answers her immediately and clears his throat when he gets a raised eyebrow from her. "I'm sorry ma'am, but it's the truth. Most arenas are built at least one year in advanced."

"So are there any partially built arenas you can finish?" Korrina asks him curiously, pushing up her glasses as they start slipping down her nose.

"Well…" Akakios starts, pausing to contemplate their options. Options that Myron didn't know were a possibility. And why would he when he spent his time as an intern for the guy in charge of sending arena gifts? "Not really, if you want a fully functional arena. We could certainly get one or two up and running in time, but who knows about traps, weather control, all those sorts of things."

"I don't care about that," Korrina responds immediately, shaking her head down at Akakios. "Those are for entertainment. This is about punishment. Which is why I want you to create an arena using Myron's suggestion."

Akakios gives a surprised look over at Myron, a look that would have made Myron punch him in the arm if they weren't at work and Myron wasn't now his boss. "Oh? And what has Myron suggested?"

Korrina gives him a pointed look and Myron sighs at her letting him tell Akakios and take the credit for this bad idea. "Well, since these games are for punishment, I suggested we remind the Districts what happens when they rebel and…use the ruins of District Twelve as an arena."

Akakios's face shows even more surprise, both eyebrows raising at the suggestion. "That…" he mutters as he starts tapping his chin and his eyebrows now furrow, Myron recognizing his expression of deep thought. "Might just work. Saves us the time in building an environment. The structure for the force field is very well documented and if you give us extra workers, we should be able to get it done in time. I don't know about arena traps, but I bet Demetri can whip up some mutts in time if you're really concerned about being able to target specific tributes."

"I don't want 'should' as an answer," Korrina responds to Akakios, getting a single nod of his head from him as he seems to understand the severity of the situation. "I _need_ you to complete this in time."

"I will," Akakios says to her, his voice only slightly betraying the confidence that he's trying to portray. "I won't let you down, Madam President."

Korrina scoffs at him intentionally calling her that, getting a grin from Akakios. "Stop that," she tells him and her tone for once seems close to happy, the first time in weeks, and it brings a smile to Myron's face. But of course it's ruined by her phone beeping. She sighs when she looks down at the message. "Well I'll be damned. Basilius already set up a time for a press announcement. But they want me to select from a couple options who will be a host for these games." She shakes her head at this as she pockets her phone and stands up from the desk. "I don't know why they're bothering. It's obvious that Jovian Flickerman will take over for their uncle. They're the only Flickerman left and I think we could use the familiarity of a Flickerman right now," she starts walking towards the door, shoulders hunched over as she keeps talking to them, waving her hand in annoyance. "But whatever, let them put me through this formality. Not like I have any other important things to do as President, like keeping the Districts from completely falling apart. I still don't know how to handle who will take over coal production."

"Hey mother?" Myron calls out to her when she reaches the door. She turns back and he gives her what he hopes is a comforting smile. "I'll see you at home for dinner?"

Korrina smiles at this, their weekly Tuesday dinners being one of the few remaining bits of normality left in their lives. "Of course. Just make sure you have lots of wine."

"I always do," Myron calls to her as she walks out the door, chuckling a little as she shuts the door. He turns his attention over to Akakios, studying his friend for a moment. "Well man, we did it."

"We did it," Akakios answers and reaches across the table to fistbump Myron, grin on his face. "Not exactly how I imagined it to happen but still, look at you. Head Gamemaker. Do I have to start calling you Mister Boss Man now?"

Myron laughs at this, the feeling great after how depressing things have been lately. "I'll punch you if you call me that."

"Fair enough," Akakios agrees around his own laughter. But he quickly grows serious, catching Myron off guard. "Myron…how serious is this?"

Myron sighs at this and shrugs his shoulders at Akakios. "Very serious. I've never seen my mother this stressed and overwhelmed. And…" he hesitates to continue, not wanting to make his friend worried, but knowing he needs to at least make Akakios aware. "While she didn't say it, I think as Gamemakers we're in a very precarious position."

Akakios nods his head in understanding at this. "Rebels are still an issue. Well, at least they'll target you first as the Head Gamemaker."

"Thanks asshole," Myron shakes his head, unable to fight the smile on his face when Akakios grins over at him. "Go get to work."

Akakios jokingly salutes him as he stands up, "Of course, Mister Boss Man."

Myron tosses a pen at him that Akakios dodges as he starts towards the door. "I told you not to call me that!"

"Doesn't mean I'll stop!" Akakios calls back before slipping out the door before Myron can follow through on his promise to punch him for calling him that.

But once the door is shut and Myron is left alone in the Head Gamemaker's office, the reality of the situation starts to set in. This was something he always wanted and yet…he's terrified of the repercussions. Akakios is right. If a rebel tries to go after the Gamemakers, they'll target him first.

But…it's a risk he's willing to take. Anything to help out his mother.

* * *

 **Here we go, a look at the Gamemaker situation! Man I had so much fun with Myron. And we get to see a sneak peak at Akakios when he just started (and maybe how he goes from this to how he is in Wayward?). If you've read my other stories, you know how much I love my Head Gamemakers so it shouldn't be a surprise that I love Myron lol.**

 **So what do you think about using the ruins of District Twelve as the arena? And what do you think of Myrion and Akakios?**

 **Alrighty next chapter we're going to get a look at our host! Don't expect the next update too soon though because I'm about to start getting into a really busy time at school again. I'll see you (hopefully) soon with the next chapter!**


	3. A Presidential Interview

**Prologue 3:**

 _Jovian Flickerman, Capitol Citizen_

"Why did you talk me into this?" Jovian whispers to their partner as they enter the media headquarters for the Capitol. Their stomach is twisting in doubt as they approach the front desk and they force a smile at the woman sitting there. "Hi, I have an interview."

"Who are you interviewing?" She asks them with a kind smile, starting to pull up the schedule on her computer.

Jovian shakes their head at this, "I'm not interviewing anyone, I'm being interviewed for a job."

"Oh okay! What's your name?" She asks as she pulls up a different schedule.

Jovian hesitates to say their name, knowing the response they always get. Rena takes their hand, knowing from just years of being together that they're uncomfortable by the reaction their last name brings. "Jovian Flickerman."

The woman's eyes widen at their last name, but that's all the reaction she gives as she types away. "Okay, Jovian, you're going up to the…twentieth floor?"

"What's wrong with that?" They ask, concerned about her change in tone.

She shakes her head, putting on a smile to hide her momentary surprise. "Just not very many people head up there. It's our best studio."

 _Great._ But Jovian just smiles at her, "Thank you," they say politely before heading towards the elevator with Rena, waiting until they're standing in front of the elevator to lean towards her and whisper. "This is a bad idea."

"It is not," she responds and Jovian gives her a look of disbelief, only making her scoff at them. "Jovian, it's a good opportunity for you! You need something to take your mind off of what happened-"

"By becoming the spokesperson for the Capitol?" Jovian asks as they step onto the elevator, pressing the button to go up to apparently the top floor. They wait until the doors are shut before shaking their head at Rena. "This was my uncle's job. Look at how well that went for him."

Rena lets out a sigh and wraps an arm around them. She leans against them, knowing this is still a difficult subject for them. "The war is over. You will be safe in this job. And I hate seeing you inside and depressed all day."

Jovian lets out a loud sigh as the elevator comes to a stop and as the doors slide open, they mumble to themselves, "That's because I am." Hard not to after everything Jovian went through because of the war. How close they came to dying, only surviving by dumb luck. Jovian still hasn't stepped foot in their old apartment, still too afraid of just how close they came to death that day.

But if there's one thing they learned from their uncle, it's how to pretend to everyone that you're okay. So they put on a blinding smile as they step out into the studio, being stopped almost immediately. "Hello, you must be Jovian," a woman says as she starts shaking their hand happily. "I'm Valeria, the stage manager here. Please, come with me and we'll get started right away."

Jovian glances back at Rena, getting a comforting smile from her before taking a deep breath and following Valeria onto the stage. They're immediately confused by the two armchairs setup already, cameras trained onto both of them and hot lights bearing down. Jovian tries to hide their discomfort as the sight brings back memories of spending evenings on set with their uncle, watching as Caesar effortlessly interviewed victors and would bring them over and introduce them to Jovian every time. The memories make their heart ache and they find themselves wishing Rena was still next to them, ready to be their rock through everything they've gone through. "So what exactly will we be doing?"

Valeria motions for Jovian to sit in one of the chairs. As soon as they're sitting, a team steps out from seemingly nowhere and starts putting makeup on them, adjusting their appearance to be forgiving under the high definition cameras. "You're here for an interview," Valeria says as she waves away the team.

Jovian looks around at the setup, still perplexed by what is going on. "Are we doing a mock interview?"

"No," a voice calls out to them and Jovian has to squint against the blinding lights to try to see who is approaching them. When they see the woman walking towards them, they immediately stand up and bow their head down. "You're going to be interviewing me."

"Madam President," Jovian lets out breathlessly, completely caught off guard by this. They hold out their hand and President Ovidius shakes it right away before motioning towards the chairs. Jovian watches her take a seat before returning to theirs, still completely confused by this situation. "Forgive me, Madam, but what exactly is going on?"

The President adjusts her skirt and crosses her ankles, taking her time before responding to Jovian, a neutral expression on her face. "I've been advised to give an interview to the public, allowing them to gain a more personal look at their new president." She purses her lips at this, the only outward sign that she is uncomfortable by this interview. "We unfortunately no longer have a face of the Capitol media, which, I do apologize for Caesar's death in the war."

Jovian is caught off guard when she reaches out and rests her hand lightly on their arm, even if it's just for a couple seconds. "Thank you, Madam. But, forgive me…are you interviewing me for this job?"

Korrina lets out a short laugh at this, making Jovian feel just slightly uncomfortable. "The others want me to pick from a select few, but I don't want to. I want you."

"Yes, but why _me_?" They ask in a hushed voice, really not understanding why the president would personally select them for this job. "I don't have hosting experience. I've barely even given any interviews, let alone to the President of Panem."

Korrina stares at them for a minute, keeping her face clear of emotions and only further stressing Jovian out. "Because, Jovian," she finally starts, leaning back in her chair. "I think Panem could use the familiarity of a Flickerman right now." She gives them a shrug at this, "And I think you'll do just fine. So, are you up for interviewing me?"

Jovian just stares at her in surprise for a minute, unsure what might happen to them if they turn down this offer. That is, if they'll even be allowed to say no since President Ovidius personally picked them. They'll admit, it's a little flattering to know that…but they still just don't know. This is all too much.

"I'll…admit that I'm a little overwhelmed by this," Jovian finally says to her, letting out a sigh and giving her a small shrug. "Can I be honest with you?"

"That's all I want from people," President Ovidius responds right away, pursing her lips at this. "For too long, people have been afraid to call out the president on their actions. I'm going to listen to the people of Panem."

Jovian lets out a sigh of relief at this, their concerns momentarily being dispelled. "Well…I'm really not sure if I want to do this. I never expected this offer because my uncle was always there. And, well, I only came here today because my partner Rena insisted it would be good for me."

The president cracks a small smile at this, one of the first displays of real emotion since she walked out. "Do you think you can at least honor me with this one interview? And then decide at a later time if you would like to continue?"

The _President of Panem_ wants to be interviewed by them? What did they ever do to earn her attention? Even Jovian isn't dumb enough to not realize how big of a deal this is. And…they suppose they can pretend for just a little longer today that they are fine with the cameras trained on them. Jovian nods their head at her, "I think I can do that."

"Very well," President Ovidius responds before waving her hand at someone behind the cameras. "Ready when you are, Valeria."

"Go ahead whenever!" The stage hand calls back and starts a twisting of nerves in Jovian's stomach. "We're pre-tapping this so we'll figure out when to start in editing."

The president turns her gaze back to Jovian, watching them expectantly with an eyebrow slightly raised and seemingly unaware of the ball of nerves in their stomach that's nearly preventing them from speaking. _They can't do this._

But they look around the stage and are just barely able to catch sight of Rena, smiling encouragingly at them. They can do this. Rena is here for them. Jovian takes a deep breath before putting on what they think is the same brilliant smile their uncle always wore. They stare at the president for a moment, unsure where to even start. What would their uncle do? So they turn towards the camera, blocking out any thought other than imitating the man they admired for years. "Hello Panem. You may not know me, but I am Jovian Flickerman," they fight the cringe that wants to form on their face, instead deciding to keep it neutral. "Yes, my uncle was Caesar Flickerman. But we're not here to talk about me. I have the privilege of interviewing our new president today. Ladies and gentlemen, President Korrina Ovidius."

Jovian turns their attention towards her, getting a polite smile. Any informality that might have been there has vanished, leaving behind a woman who is aware of the power she holds. "Thank you, Jovian. I'm looking forward to providing Panem with some insight into who is now running the country."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm looking forward to learning more about you," Jovian honestly says. No one really knows too much about her, well, at least no one in Jovian's circle. Certainly her face is new to those in the Districts. They pause for a moment, unsure where to go. They only hope their hesitation isn't showing on their face. "So to start, why don't you tell us about what you did in Panem before being chosen as President."

President Ovidius keeps her face neutral as she stares at Jovian, the only hint of pain showing in her eyes. She stares at them for a minute before finally responding. "I had a relatively normal life, at least compared to what I do now. I operated an acting agency and helped manage quite a few of the most recognizable faces in our media."

"So how do you go from that to President of Panem?" Jovian asks, their own curiosity rising at this new information.

She lets out a single laugh at this, even though her eyes don't show any amusement. "I had a wife who was very popular in politics." Jovian raises a single eyebrow at her choice of words and she lets out a sigh. "Yes… _had._ My wife, Elaine… she had ambitions towards eventually getting into office. I was always supportive of her and so I ended up attending all the parties with her. Apparently I shook enough of the right hands at those parties and they thought I would be good as President so here I am."

Ovidius might be saying more, but Jovian can no longer focus on the woman sitting in front of him. How can they when she shared the reminder of losing loved ones to the war? And when her words have brought them back to months ago, the night their world was completely changed? Their ears start to ring and the lights feel overwhelming, yet they can't bring themselves to move or say anything. They shut their eyes tightly, fighting with everything to bring their heart rate down, but instead, they start breathing rapidly as the memories hit them.

" _Sit!" Rena orders them, pointing at the seat with tongs and one hand on her hip until Jovian listens to her. "You help me cook all the time. Just let me surprise you with this one thing!"_

 _Jovian holds their hands up defensively but a playful smile forms on their lips as they watch Rena turn around and get back to her work. "Alright, I'll just sit here, looking pretty and watching my beautiful partner cook what I'm sure is going to be the best damn meal ever."_

 _Rena turns around just enough for Jovian to see her rolling her eyes at them, only making them burst out laughing. Rena shakes her head as she turns back to the food, "Flattery is not going to get this to happen more often, if that's what you're trying to do."_

 _Jovian gets up at this and walks over to her, wrapping their arms around her waist and resting their chin on her shoulder. "I'm doing this because I have the loveliest partner ever who I love more than anything." They pause when the doorbell rings, furrowing their eyebrows a little in annoyance that someone is interrupting their date night. But they quickly kiss Rena on the cheek before letting go of her, starting to head towards the door while calling back to her, "I'll take care of it."_

 _They're still smiling about Rena when they reach the front door but as soon as they open it, their smile instantly drops. Three Peacekeepers stand there, staring at them, and when they see them, one of them instantly brings up a communicator, "We found them. Jovian is alive."_

" _What…?" Jovian shakes their head in confusion when one of the Peacekeepers steps inside the house. "What's going on?"_

" _Jovian, we need you to come with us. It isn't safe here," the Peacekeeper tells them, her voice surprisingly calm for being in the middle of a war._

 _Jovian shakes their head, unable to form clear thoughts right now. What is happening? Why were Peacekeepers searching for them? "Jovian…the rebels just tried to execute an assassination attempt on all members of the Flickerman family."_

 _Jovian drops to their knees, staring up in shock at them as her words sink in. Assassination attempt? On the entire Flickerman family? Their eyes start to water in tears of fear and they whisper to them, begging them to give them good news. "Is my family alive?"_

 _Jovian can hear Rena calling over to them and walking over, but all they can do is stare up at the Peacekeeper. "I'm sorry, Jovian. They killed everyone and would have killed you too if you weren't here."_

" _Jovian?" Rena asks as tears silently run down Jovian's cheeks as their body feels numb. Everyone dead…? "Jovian!" Rena shouts and runs over to them, wrapping them tightly in a hug. "What happened?"_

" _Rena Lukianas?" The Peacekeeper asks their partner as Jovian starts to silently shake. This can't be happening. Their family can't be dead. Mother…Father…Uncle Caesar. Jovian chokes out a sob at this. "You saved Jovian's life by having them here tonight. But you two need to come with us. We're taking you to a safe house."_

"I can't do this," Jovian mutters, shaking their head as they stare around the studio, eyes wide and unable to focus on anything. "I can't," they let out, breathing short as they start feeling like their overheating from the lights. "Turn the lights off!"

"Jovian!" A woman shouts at them and grabs on to their shoulders, starting to shake them. Jovian blinks their eyes rapidly, trying to focus on the face in front of them. Rena stares down at them, concern filling her eyes. "Jovian, you're safe. The war is over. They can't get you."

At that, Jovian blinks a few times, making tears start dripping down their cheeks. "They're all dead…"

Rena pulls them in to a tight hug as they start to sob, body violently shaking from the memories of what happened. Jovian finally notices another woman standing behind Rena, staring at them with a concerned look all over her face. "Jovian, I'm sorry for forcing you into this interview."

Rena lets go of Jovian at this, still holding on to their hand tightly. Jovian shakes their head at the President and uselessly tries to wipe away tears. "I'm sorry. I can't do this interview."

"I know the pain you're going through," President Ovidius continues as she places a hand on Jovian's arm. "Every day, I wake up and wish I could do _anything_ to go back and change what happened. But I can't, no matter how desperately I wish." She pauses to let out a sad sigh at this before trying to smile at Jovian. "But you know what gets me out of bed? Knowing that I have the opportunity to change things and make sure this doesn't happen again."

Jovian uses the back of their hand to wipe at their nose before hastily wiping it on their pants. "I don't think interviewing people is going to help me change anything."

President Ovidius' eyes light up at this and she leans closer to Jovian. "Oh but it will."

"How?" Jovian whispers to her, curiosity getting the best of them, even though everything in them is screaming at them to just leave and never look back about taking this job.

"What if I told you that you could be involved in punishing the rebels?" She asks them and Jovian hates the fact that they so badly want to do that. "What if I told you that you could punish the rebels who took your family away from you?"

Jovian stares at her with wide eyes, wondering how in the world they would be able to do that. And yet…punish the ones who killed their family? It's an intoxicating thought and as bitter resentment towards the rebels starts to build in them, they find themselves nodding their head, against their better judgement. "How?"

President Ovidius leans back from them before looking around the studio. She motions for Jovian to stand up but they still hesitate. "Jovian, let's go have a long conversation in private."

* * *

 **Well I couldn't just give a happy host, now could I? Not after the rebellion. But we still have a lot more to see with Jovian, especially with how they react to being part of the continuation of the games. Oh and I'll give a bonus five sponsor points to whoever makes the connection to who else is related to someone (and who) in one of my future stories.**

 **There's going to be one more prologue before we start to see our tributes! Next up we're going to see some more of Korrina and Myron about the mentoring and escorting situation. JUST A REMINDER! I do have escort submissions open for this story and the link is on my profile. I have three so far but would love to have a couple more!**

 **Alrighty, I'll see you soon with the last prologue!**


	4. New Roles

**Trigger warning for homophobia in Blazeus' section.**

* * *

 **Prologue 4:**

 _Korrina Ovidius, Interim President of Panem_

What a sight the three of them must be, all sitting behind the Head Gamemaker's desk, waiting to talk to the chosen escorts for this year's Hunger Games. Korrina truly wishes she didn't have to say that there was another Games happening…but the plans have been set into motion and the Capitol and even some of the Districts have shown support for punishing the rebels this way. There were some against it, of course, but she didn't expect Seven to jump right back into supporting the Capitol. Not after they were one of the most rebellious Districts.

"Are you ready, Mo- Madam President?" Myron catches himself before he calls her Mom, and she notices him glance past her to look at the person sitting on her left. Jovian Flickerman has been nervously picking at their nails ever since they got settled and began the wait for the twelve – no, _eleven_ – chosen escorts to arrive. Korrina sighs a little at that thought, knowing she probably won't ever get used to there no longer being Twelve Districts.

Today is the day they'll give answers to the final choices and inform them which District they will be placed in. Korrina knows they must suspect they have the job, but Korrina just wants to be there for one final interview to determine how many she has to watch to make sure they're not about to start another war in their quest to kill rebels. She doesn't trust them to all give truthful answers to just her son and Jovian.

"I suppose so," Korrina answers as she straightens up the papers on the desk in front of her, glancing over the first escort. She turns her gaze over to Jovian, lighting placing a hand on their shoulder and surprising them a little. They try to give her a timid smile, but she can tell they're still relieving the memories that haunt them. Korrina's heart breaks for them and all the other people in Panem that lost loved ones. And with Jovian, she feels a similar motherly instinct, not too different from what she feels towards Myron. "You're going to do great. The only people here are us and whoever is being interviewed. And if you need to stop and have us take over at any point, just give us the word and we will."

Jovian nods their head just a bit at this and their smile grows a tiny bit more. "Thank you, Madam President."

"You're welcome," Korrina responds softly, still caught off guard by her new title. Instead of dwelling on it, she turns her focus back to the task at hand. "Very well, we might as well get started."

Korrina motions to her son and he calls out for his two young interns. "Eulalia and Quintus!"

The pair of twins rushes in to the office, wide eyed as they take off their hats to give Korrina a small curtsey and bow. "Madam President, what can we do for you?" Quintus asks her, putting his hat back on as he steps further into the room with his sister.

"Anything to drink? Something to eat?" Eulalia offers, her brother nodding his head in agreement.

"We're fine," Myron answers for them and Korrina can see how crushed the two are from their offer to help getting turned down so quickly.

Korrina smiles at them and immediately their mood is picked back up and they're smiling once more. "Thank you for the offer but we're good for now. We're ready for the first candidate."

"Actually, Madam President," Eulalia says nervously, rocking on her feet as she bites at her lip and glances between Korrina, Myron, and Jovian. "There's a woman here to see you."

"She said it's very important," Quintus adds when his sister stops talking.

Korrina tries to hold in her sigh at yet another person wanting to talk to her. For just one day, she would like to not be bothered by anyone. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't counting down the days until the vote happened and she could finally relax and properly mourn her wife. "Who is it?"

"Her name was…uhhh…" Quintus glances at his sister anxiously, silently pleading with her to have the answer.

"Cat!" Eulalia shouts out, grinning at her brother and getting a smile of relief in return.

"Cat?" Korrina asks and both twins nod their head quickly at this. "Red hair?"

"Yep!"

"Why didn't you say something sooner? Bring her in," Korrina says a bit harsher than she intended and the twins quickly scramble to the door to bring in Catriona. "I wish they would have said something sooner."

"They mean well," Myron offers and Korrina can see what he means from their attitudes. "They're just…very excited to be working on the Games."

"Clearly they didn't lose anyone they knew to the Rebellion," Jovian says quietly, surprising both Korrina and Myron by speaking up.

"Clearly not…" Korrina echoes as the twins return, leading Catriona into the room. But from one glance at Catriona's face, she can tell that whatever news the younger woman has won't be good. Catriona motions her over to the window, away from the others so that they can talk without being overheard. "What's going on?"

Catriona gives a heavy sigh at this, leaning closer to Korrina so the others won't hear her. "We finally heard back from our District special agents and the news isn't good."

Korrina stares at the woman, but Catriona simply stares out the window, trying to hide the worry in her eyes from Korrina. "They haven't been able to find Celestia…and I don't think the rebels are ever going to give her up, if she's still alive."

"We'll keep looking for her," Korrina answers resolutely, refusing to give up hope. "We have to find her…I don't care what her grandfather did, that girl does not deserve to be punished."

Catriona finally looks over at her at this, eyebrows raised high. "Isn't that exactly what you're doing to the children of rebels? Punishing them for the actions their parents did?"

"I… _damn it_! I hate this job so much," Korrina runs a hand over her face, realizing just how hypocritical she was just being. Why shouldn't Celestia be punished for the atrocities that her grandfather committed as president? Snow murdered so many people and caused the rebellion to happen. But so did the people in the Districts that killed innocent civilians in the war. "We all deserve to be punished for what we did."

Catriona stays quiet for a minute, just letting Korrina think for a minute. When she finally removes her hand from her face, she finds Catriona waiting for her. "What do you want to do?"

Korrina stares at the woman for a few seconds, really hoping she's making the right decision. But with the lives of everyone in the country depending on her, she can't be focused on just one person. "Call off the search. It's been months now. I don't think we're going to find her."

"Yes, Madam President," Catriona mutters, struggling to keep her voice neutral. She clears her throat and speaks louder, looking around the room. "I won't keep you any longer. You have a long day ahead of you."

"Don't remind me," Korrina tells her as she returns to the desk, ignoring the very curious look on her son's face. "Thank you, Catriona."

"Madam President," Catriona says respectfully before Eulalia leads her out the door. Quintus is about to follow his sister, but Korrina stops him.

"Quintus, please bring in the first candidate," Korrina glances back at her list, even though she's stared at it long enough that she knows every name on it. "We're going in alphabetical order by last name, starting with Veronica Cachia."

Korrina turns her attention back to the supplied information regarding Veronica, still surprised that one of the finalists is only sixteen. It's very rare for the Head Gamemaker to pick someone so young, but she trusts Myron's judgement on her. And, after all, Veronica isn't an unfamiliar face in the Capitol.

The young girl enters the room standing tall and putting on a confident face that Korrina can see right through, being all too familiar with the mask Veronica wears. But Korrina finds a bit of comfort in the familiar smile on her face. The girl has a natural beauty about her and has managed to grow from the young girl they all watched ten years ago in every popular movie to model. And now, apparently growing into an escort. "Welcome, Miss Cachia. Please take a seat."

"Yes, ma'am," she answers politely, doing what she's told. As she takes her seat, she adjusts the black wool cape coat she wears, pulling it closer around her. She keeps the nervous smile on her face as she gives polite nods to Myron and Jovian, and timidly offers them a greeting, "Hello Head Gamemaker Ovidius. And it's good to see you again, Jovian."

"Hello dear," Myron says softly before gesturing to Jovian. "Jovian here is just going to ask you a few questions about this job opportunity. Please ignore myself and Madam President, we are just here to observe."

"Well, this certainly isn't the first time I've been interviewed," Veronica starts, turning her smile to Jovian, who Korrina can see relax a little. They don't have to work as hard here – although Korrina already supplied the exact questions they need to ask. Their role here is more about gaining more confidence interviewing people after what happened to them. "How about we get started since you still have ten more people after me? I wouldn't want to keep you here all day."

"It's our job to be here all day," Korrina says with a wave of her hand before leaning back in her chair, propping her notes on her lap so she can keep track of which escorts are going to give her a hard time and who she can count on. "Let's start."

Jovian clears their throat, not needing any notes to remember what they are supposed to ask. "Miss Cachia, what are your opinions on the Second Rebellion?"

"And please answer truthfully," Korrina adds as she watches the surprise at the question flash on Veronica's face. "No one else is going to find out what you say here, I just personally want to know. There's no wrong or right answer."

Veronica nods her head in understanding at this and visibly slouches a little as her smile falters, seemingly allowing herself to no longer keep up all of her public image. "It was…a terrible thing but also…I feel for the people that rebelled. Most of them were just trying to break out of the circumstances they were place into and get a better life for themselves _and_ their children. But also, sometimes you just have to accept that that's how your life is and learn to make the most of it." Veronica pauses for a moment, staring down at her hands before continuing, "I don't know how I feel about it. I guess I understand why they rebelled, but don't agree with it."

Korrina nods her head at this, finding the young girl's answer very similar to her own thoughts on the matter. She sure wishes they had never rebelled and started the events that led to losing her wife, yet they had justifiable reasons to rebel. She glances at Jovian, finding the young host waiting for her approval before they continue. "And what are your opinions on the Hunger Games continuing?"

"I just view it as a new opportunity for me and to venture into something new," Veronica smiles at this, but Korrina can see that it's force and raises an eyebrow at the girl. Veronica lets out a heavy sigh before giving the President her honest answer. "I'm kind of glad they're continuing. I'm tired of being forced to go to audition after audition. I want something that I can just stay in and be settled, and get my parents to back off until I turn eighteen. Honestly…I just try not to think about what exactly this means. It's just another job in the public eye and I'll do whatever I'm told."

"Well," Korrina starts, knowing Jovian no longer needs to ask their last question. "That also explains the next question of why you want to be an escort. Thank you for being honest with us."

Veronica nods her head at this, but Korrina can see on her face that it was difficult for her to put down the public face and be honest about these things. Even at her young age, Korrina can tell Veronica will do her job well, simply doing what she's told and avoiding starting any further trouble. "We will be placing you in District Six. It was one of the calmer Districts and I don't foresee you having any problems. However, since you are younger, we will provide you will someone to help you in mentoring the tributes given the current…situation with victors."

"We will provide you with their contact information once we have settled on who will be paired with you so you may work out strategies with them prior to the Games starting," Myron adds, avoiding to share the fact that they have no clue who will be with the young girl yet.

"Of course," Veronica says gently, finding herself back to the girl Korrina has seen over the years. "I will do whatever you ask of me."

"Thank you, Miss Cachia," Korrina stands up and Veronica quickly does the same, and they shake hands before Quintus and Eulalia step forward. "Please bring in Chara Delarosa next."

Korrina sits back down as she watches Veronica leave and waits until the door shuts before speaking to Myron. "She'll do well. Just make sure you hire someone nice to work with her and who will treat her like an adult, not a child."

"Of course," Myron responds, jotting down a brief note of his own. "Six shouldn't give her any trouble."

"They won't," Korrina answers confidently before turning to Jovian, studying them carefully. "How are you doing so far?"

"I'm doing alright," they say quietly, trying to give Korrina a smile. "Nica was easy to interview since I've met her a few times thanks to my-" They cut off before saying who and Korrina places her hand on their shoulder. "I'm fine," they say too quickly. "I'll be fine."

"Just remember, you can stop at any time," Korrina reminds them just before the door opens once more, the twins ushering in the next escort. Chara looks incredibly tiny next to the tall twins, but doesn't seem bothered by it. She's dressed rather ordinary for a potential escort, wearing a simple spring green blouse and brown dress pants. Chara is smiling as she approaches Korrina, but up close, Korrina forces herself to keep her own smile on her face as she sees the cold eyes on Chara. Chara holds out a hand and gives Korrina a firm shake and the President notices the upside down red heart shape on the back of her hand. She doesn't question the tattoo as she motions for Chara to sit, even as she notices six smaller upside down red hearts on Chara's other hand. "Welcome, Miss Delarosa."

"Hello, Madam President!" Chara says cheerfully as she starts to shake Myron and Jovian's hands. "And hello to you too as well! It's a pleasure to meet you and I'm determined to have you see what I'm capable of doing as an escort."

"Yes, well, we have a few questions for you first and would like your honest answer," Korrina says calmly, a little perturbed by Chara's smile that never quite meets her eyes. "Jovian?"

Jovian clears their throat before beginning, their tone not nearly as pleasant as it was with Veronica. "Chara, what are your opinions on the Second Rebellion?"

"So many people died because of it! I even lost my own family – I tried to save them, of course but…" Chara lets out a dramatic sigh, frowning for just a moment as Jovian tenses up at the mention of losing her family. But like flipping a switch, Chara's smile is back as she gives a shrug at Korrina. "But I'm determined to make something good happen from this! The Rebellion allowed escort spots to open up and now here I am, determined to be an escort and keep working my way up to the top."

Despite losing her family to the Rebellion, it seems like Chara is unaware of the impact it had on the lives of everyone across Panem. Korrina waits for Jovian to ask the next question, but after the seconds turn into a minute of silence with Chara continuing to smile at them, Korrina finally glances over at Jovian and realizes they have frozen up, so she quickly continues the interview for them. "And what are your opinions on the Games continuing?"

"I love it!" Chara answers enthusiastically, making Korrina cringe inside at how excited she is to see children continue to fight to the death. "There's just something great about seeing the determination of tributes to survive. And then there's just this power you see from the victors that one can't help but admire. That and their determination to do whatever it takes."

Korrina is left not knowing how to respond to this, simply because she wasn't expecting the eighteen year old girl in front of her to be one that loves the blood and gore of the Games and can talk about children dying, all while keeping a grin on her face. But, that's the Capitol for you. Raised to blindly love the Games without realizing that these are children just like theirs. And she's just continuing this…

 _No._ She is not making the Games the same spectacle that they were under Snow. She is only doing this as a punishment until she can figure out a different way to make sure a third rebellion doesn't happen.

Myron picks up on Korrina growing uncomfortable and she's grateful that he asks the last question. "Now I already know this answer, but for Madam President's sake, why do you want to be an escort?"

"This is just the first step – but a very important first step – to my career. I'm determined and ready to do whatever it takes to be the best I can be," Chara pauses so that she can somehow make her grin even larger, emphasizing the bright circles of pink blush on her cheeks. Yet her eyes never light up with her smile. "You'll find that I'm quite determined to do whatever it takes to accomplish the goals I have."

"Yes, it was written in the notes about you from the previous interviews that you kept expressing your determination," Korrina picks up the notes on Chara, having underlined just how many times Myron mentioned her determination. "It is for that reason we have decided to place you in District Four as we believe you will not have a problem keeping former careers in line." A brief flash of _something_ passes across Chara's eyes, the first glimpse of emotion in them this whole time, but Korrina quickly causes it to disappear. "However, since you are eighteen and we anticipate this District may cause problems, we may assign another person to help mentor the tributes with you."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to need any help," Chara answers confidently, making sure to take the time to meet all of them in the eyes. "Just wait. I'm determined that District Four is going to get a victor this year."

"We'll see, Miss Delarosa," Korrina says curtly as she'll see once the Games start if Chara can truly bring home a victor. "Thank you."

"No, thank _you_ ," Chara answers as she jumps up from her chair, sticking her hand out once more to shake Korrina's hand. "I'm sure we'll be talking again."

Korrina simply smiles politely at her as she returns her handshake, then motions for the twins to escort her out. "Next is America English."

"Yes ma'am!" Eulalia says loudly as they leave the room.

Korrina sighs as the door shuts, already exhausted by this and they still have nine more people to talk to. "Should I be concerned about her?"

"I'm not sure," Myron hesitantly answers before shrugging at her. "I didn't see a reason to be concerned, but with how much she loves the Games…"

"Unless the answer is a definite no, I'm not taking any chances. We'll send someone so we can keep an eye on her." With that, Korrina turns towards the young host, immediately concerned by the way they stare blankly at the door. The wounds are still all too fresh for them and surely Chara so casually mentioning losing her family did not help them in their slow healing process. "Jovian? You can leave if you need to."

"No," they whisper, still staring at the door. "I have to keep trying… That's what Rena keeps saying. And she's right…" Jovian finally turns to look at Korrina as she hears multiple voices approaching in the hallway. "I'll be fine eventually."

The door opens and two pairs of twins enter, causing Korrina's eyebrows to raise as she stares at the large amount of red, white, and blue that just entered the office. "Um…I asked only for America. Unity King is next."

"That's what I tried to tell her," the tall, lanky man says, shaking his head at his sister, making his red, white, and blue hair fall in front of his eyes. He pushes it back before taking a sip from the travel mug he carries. "Yet she still insisted."

"We're a package deal!" The girl declares happily, gesturing between the two of them. Korrina stares at her, wondering just how much hair gel she had to put in her long navy hair to have one side of it sticking up. She glances between them, noticing them both wearing similar style bomber jackets, with the girl's in red and the boy's in the three colors that are clearly their color scheme.

"Just because we're twins does not mean we're a package deal," the boy sighs loudly at this and crosses his arms at her. "We can't both escort for the same District."

Korrina clears her throat as the girl opens her mouth to respond to her brother, seemingly remembering that they aren't alone. She motions to the seats in front of her and before she can even ask, Quintus is bringing over a second chair. "It's fine, we can talk to you together. Please have a seat and introduce yourself so I know who is who."

The girl bounces over, proudly holding out her hand to the President. "I am America English! And this is my twin, U.K.! Well, Unity King is his name but most people call him U.K."

Unity King walks a lot slower than his sister and is less enthusiastic about his hand shake, but he does try to give the President a small smile, even if it is a little forced. "Hello, Madam President. I apologize for my sister-hey!" He yells, looking over at America after she smacks him on the arm for his comment and he quickly returns the action.

"Let's just get started," Korrina says a little louder than necessary, doubting if she'll have the energy to put up with these two together for very long. She looks over at Jovian, silently asking them if they want to do the interview, and they nod their head before turning to the twins.

Up close, Korrina can't stop herself from staring at the large, bushy eyebrows above Unity King's light blue eyes as Jovian starts the interview. "What do you two think about the Second Rebellion?"

"It sucks."

"It's terrible!"

The twins look at each other after both speaking at the same time, before Unity King sighs and America starts explaining her answer. "It was a terrible thing! The Districts never should have attacked the Capitol because the Capitol has always been so supportive of them and helped them. Why would they go against us? All it caused was the loss of so many lives…"

"Yeah, just the lives of our parents," Unity King bitterly says, his face clearly expressing how much he hates what happened in the Second Rebellion and Korrina starts to understand why he's so cynical and bitter. "It didn't change anything except cause too much loss."

"But things should get better!" America says positively, giving her brother a comfortingly pat on the shoulder. He nudges her hand away, but she seems unbothered by him as she continues on, still staying optimistic. "With the Games continuing, it's going to be a great way for the Capitol and the Districts to reconnect!"

"Or it will start another war," Unity King mutters under his breath.

Korrina shakes her head at this, refusing to believe that she will cause another war to start. But before she can say anything, America is being all peppy again. "We won't let that happen! I think the Hunger Games starting again is going to do great things to help reunite Panem as a country and we want to be part of that! We're going to be great escorts and do our very best to get a victor home this year! I believe in whatever tributes we will have to mentor."

Unity King stays silent at this, staring down at the travel mug he clutches in his hands. "Unity?" Korrina asks, bringing his attention back up to her right away. "What about you? Why do you want to be an escort?"

"I'm just doing it for her," Unity King responds with a heavy sigh while using his thumb to point over at America. "She's all I have left at this point."

"Very well," Korrina answers, wondering how these two will do once they're on their own. She can tell America will be just fine, albeit a bit too peppy for a District that just lost so much. But Unity King…he might just be good for his District. Surely he'll be received better than America would. "America will be escorting for District Nine and Unity King will be escorting for District Eleven."

"Excellent!" America says right away, clapping her hands together in front of her. "Get ready for the next victor to be from District Nine!"

"I guess someone has to be in Eleven," Unity King says once America has quieted down. "Why not send an already sad person to be the escort in the saddest District?"

Korrina purses her lips at that, unsure how to respond to him. So she stands up and the two quickly scramble to stand up, America smiling cheerfully while Unity King looks like he's fighting off a frown. "Thank you both." She glances over at the intern twins and they step over, ready to do whatever she asks of them. "Please escort America and Unity King out and bring in Dion Fushana, and only bring Dion."

"Right away, ma'am," Eulalia answers as they start leading the two escorts out, with America pausing in the doorway to wave back at them.

Once out of sight, Korrina leans her head against the desk and Myron chuckles at her. "Sorry, I should have warned you that they're a lot."

"I don't know what I expected from them," Korrina answers as she picks up her head to look at her son. "Do they need help?"

"I don't think so…" Myron trails off, thinking about the two young escorts. "America might just need some extra security to make sure her peppy cheer doesn't upset Nine. But U.K.? I think his somber mood is what Eleven needs right now."

"Very well," Korrina says as she picks up her head, finding these younger escorts so much to handle. "At least Dion will be relaxed." She lets out a single laugh as she turns towards Jovian. "And maybe you'll actually be able to ask them more than one question."

"We'll see, ma'am," Jovian responds quietly before the edges of their lips turn up in a tiny hint of a smile. "Perhaps they're going to psychoanalyze us."

Korrina laughs at this, something she hasn't done very often lately. "They've been retired for years now, they don't do that anymore."

After four interviews with young brand new escorts, it's a relief to Korrina to see the seasoned escort walk through the door, giving them all a kind smile. "Hello, young ones."

Korrina cracks a smile at this, taking in the appearance of Dion. Like always, they look like they just stepped out of one of their gardens. Everything they wear is covered in a bit of dirt and leaves, from the green poncho to orange shorts to the wide brimmed hat they wear. The hat has some flowers tucked in, matching the flower on the top of their cane. They make little noise as they walk over, but that may be because their feet are bare and covered in dirt. "Dion, I'm not that much younger than you."

Dion ponders this for a moment, staring down at her for a few seconds before brushing their hand on their shorts and holding it out to her. "Twenty years is a significant difference. And those two are definitely young ones." Dion takes the time to shake both of their hands, studying both of them in that way they always do. "And how are you two handling your new jobs?"

"Well I'm still here, aren't I?" Myron answers, making Dion tilt their head a little as they look at him. Korrina glances over at her son, finding him starting to fidget a little from Dion's perceiving gaze.

"You are, but the hardest part of your job has yet to come," Dion answers calmly as they sit down across from them. They turn their gaze to Jovian and it softens as they look at the nervous host. "And Jovian…if I can help you in any way, please let me know. I am only working that job part time, but I will work however long I need to in order to help. I'm afraid lots of people have needed my help after what happened. I've done lots of thinking on what happened, but I'm sure that's not what you want to hear today."

"Actually," Korrina starts, getting a curious eyebrow raise from Dion, "That is why you're here today. I want to know your thoughts on the Rebellion and the Games and why you're still doing this job."

"Ah I see," Dion trails off and starts tapping their chin, seemingly without realizing what they're doing. "I suppose it's so you know who might cause problems, either by being too loyal or too rebellious. Well…that might just be Blazeus and Prima that you have to watch. We all know how they are…" Dion gets back into deep thought, but realizes after a few seconds what they have done and smiles apologetically at them. "Anyways, my thoughts on the rebellion."

"Yes please," Korrina smiles at them, "Your thoughts without any filters."

"Like I mentioned, I've done a lot of thinking on it," Dion starts, once more tapping their chin as they think through their response. "I can see the reasons for both sides and neither is fully correct, but neither is wrong for what they did. The Districts were trying to stop what they view as an atrocity while the Capitol was defending their rule and way of life. Does it justify the many lives lost? Of course not. There is no justification for killing that many people. But I can understand why both sides were willing to fight for what they believe in."

Dion's calm and thoughtful perspective is exactly why Korrina wanted them to be an escort this year, especially with some of the other returning escorts that are certainly going to cause problems for either side. "And what of the Games continuing and why you're still being an escort?"

"Again, I've thought about both sides for why they should or shouldn't continue," Dion looks down at their shorts, picking a leaf off of them and tucking it in their pocket before continuing. "I do not envy you right now as this is a very difficult situation. There's no one simple solution that will heal the wounds from this Rebellion. I don't think the Games continuing is the long term solution but for now, it might work, but it also might not work."

"I don't intend on it being a long term solution," Korrina says resolutely. As much as she's disliked the immense pressure placed on her as being elected interim President…she wants to make an impact on the country. She wants to do what Elaine would have done if she was here.

"Good," Dion gives her a small smile at this. "As for why I want to continue escorting, well, I feel like I can provide some aid towards this wounded country. I think you could use some neutrality and calm amongst your escorts, given who I saw sitting out there and glaring at each other. And I still think retirement is boring and need something to do that will help people."

Korrina sighs heavily at this, having been worried about the two people they're referring to. "Are they fighting?"

"Not yet," Dion answers with a hint of amusement in their voice. "But no guarantees they won't start as you still have two more interviews before Prima."

"We'll be fast," Korrina responds before looking down at her notes about Dion. "I know you were working in District Seven for the last five years, but we have decided to move you to District Eight. They're broken and dismayed after losing so many people in the hospital bombing…they need your calming presence."

"As you wish," Dion says, bowing their head in acceptance of their new District. "It does not matter what District I am in, I will still do my job to the best of my abilities."

"Thank you, Dion. You don't know how much I appreciate you help…" Korrina trails off as Dion fixes their studying gaze on her now. She doesn't like being analyzed and quickly clears her throat and shuffles her papers. "That is all we have to ask you today."

She stands up and Dion does the same, shaking her hand. "Of course. I'll continue to do my best and you do the same. That's all the country asks for."

Korrina nods her head at them, unsure if she's truly doing her best. Instead of thinking of this, she turns to the interns. "Next is Abraham Honorious."

"Best of luck, Madam President," Dion says as the interns lead them out.

Korrina waits until the door is shut before speaking up, "Dion is going to be a good person to have involved in these Games. They just know what needs to be done."

"They were Tiberius' top choice," Myron mentions and Korrina finds her nodding her head at this. She's not surprised that Tiberius would want Dion, just like she knows Basilius picked Blazeus and Catrina picked Prima.

She turns to Jovian, the host staring at the door with a confused expression. "You should take their offer."

"Huh?" They ask, turning to look at Korrina. "Oh…that… I'm already seeing someone…"

"Yes but Dion Fushana doesn't offer to work extra for just anyone," Korrina counters, watching their face to see how they react. "There's a reason they're the best."

"I know…" Jovian answers softly as they hear people talking in the hallway. They compose themself before the door opens. "I'll see what Rena thinks."

If they were outside, Korrina would need sunglasses to look at the man that just walked in. Abraham is making quite the impression wearing a silver suit covered in sparkles, matching the bits of sparkles looking like snowflakes in his cropped sandy hair. Finally the escort's appearance will fully match the District he's being sent to after being in a new District each year for the past six years. "Hello, Madam President and friends!" Abraham says enthusiastically as he walks over, short legs moving quickly so he can reach the desk. When Korrina holds out her hand, he grabs it and shakes it with both hands as a genuine grin spreads across his face. "How are we doing today?"

"We're doing well. Please, take a seat," Korrina motions and Abraham sits immediately, still grinning at the three of them. The escort makes himself comfortable, crossing his legs and still maintaining that smile. If Korrina didn't know him already from his previous years as an escort, she'd assume it's fake to make a good impression, but he's just that happy of a person. "We just have a few questions to ask you."

"Ask away!" He answers cheerfully while starting to bounce his foot around. "I have no problem answering anything you ask, except for stuff that's like, my biggest secrets which aren't even that big-"

"We'll just be asking questions related to the Games," Korrina stops him before he keeps rambling and while others would just be embarrassed, Abraham just grins. "Jovian?"

"Yes ma'am," they respond before clearing their throat. "So Abraham, what are your thoughts on the Hunger Games continuing due to the Second Rebellion?"

"Oh well it was just horrifying what happened!" Abraham puts a hand on his chest and his smile finally disappears. "I knew from being in the different Districts that they were a bit riled up about the Games, but I _never_ imagined that they would do what they did against our beloved Capitol. But," he pauses and his optimistic smile returns once more, "I think that everyone has learned from this and we can return to the Games happening and celebrating them each year!"

His response is just about what Korrina expected from him. She's seen the reports from before from the mentors that couldn't stand how enthusiastic and naïve he is regarding the Games. They were the reasons he never stayed put for more than a year.

Jovian takes a bit to ask their next question and Korrina worries they're not handling Abraham's enthusiasm well. But Korrina needs Abraham to work with the tributes without getting deterred, especially with where they're sending him. "And why do you want to escort this year?"

"Well why wouldn't I?" Abraham asks, his face scrunching in confusion. "I love my job!"

"Very well," Korrina says, unsure what else she should have expected from him. "Abraham, I hope you're ready for another District."

"It won't be the first time I've been moved around but I'm excited to see where you're sending me next," Abraham smiles at her, not letting the constant moving bother him one bit.

"You'll be in District One this-"

"Yes!" Abraham cheers before smiling apologetically at Korrina. "I'm sorry, I've been hoping to escort in District One eventually."

Korrina forces a smile at him, wishing she could have his enthusiasm. But she can't, not when she is too aware of what happened that made the Games continue. "You will need to mentor the tributes and we suspect there won't be any volunteers."

"Well that is quite alright, Madam President," Abraham cheerfully responds to her. "I will still do my very best with them!"

"Thank you, Abraham," she says, standing up so she can start the next interview. She just can't handle his extreme optimism anymore and she's starting to understand why the victors had complained about him before. "Quintus will show you out and Eulalia, please bring in Lyncelle Lyrain."

Once the door is shut, Korrina lets out a heavy sigh, feeling like she's been doing that a lot today. "Are we done yet? I don't think I can handle one more too peppy and cheerful escort that doesn't fully grasp that we just went through a war and these Games are a punishment."

"We still have five more…" Myron sighs as well, clearly feeling a similar exhaustion as his mother. "But once we're done with Lyncelle, the others are all returning escorts. And she's not quite like the others."

"Good," Korrina says firmly, mentally exhausted by this. She shuffles her papers to Lyncelle's, curious about the name. "Why does her name sound familiar?"

"You'll see," Myron answers and Korrina narrows her eyes at her son's amused tone. "If she doesn't mention the reason, I'll tell you after."

"You better," Korrina brings out her mom voice for this, but she only makes Myron laugh. "Watch it or I won't invite you over for dinner anymore."

"That's a lie, you love having me over for dinner," Myron chuckles once more before the door swings open, revealing a well-dressed young girl. Lyncelle is dressed like one of the many journalists Korrina has had to put up with lately, wearing an off the shoulder white blouse with a small black bow at the neckline, tucked into a black pencil skirt. Her heels are loud on the floor as she approaches and gives a small, but warm smile at the President. She pulls her braided light ginger hair forward, revealing a small pop of red color in her outfit in the form of a red ribbon tied around the end.

Lyncelle offers her hand to Korrina and gives a firm shake, showing she isn't afraid of the President, but she's still respecting her. "Hello, Madam President. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Korrina answers politely as Lyncelle takes the seat across from her. "Well Miss Lyrain, I won't waste our time with sugar coating things and ask you not to do the same. It's been a long day already and we still have four more people to interview after you. I just want to ask you a few questions before you find out what District you'll be escorting for."

Lyncelle's light up a little at the information that she has the job, but unlike the previous person, she doesn't get overly excited. "Of course, Madam Ovidius, and thank you. Whenever you're ready, I'm ready."

Korrina recognizes the tone of someone who interviews people and notices Jovian relax at this. This is someone that will be polite and kind to them. "Lyncelle, what are your opinions on the Second Rebellion?"

Lyncelle's smile immediately falters at this and it's clear she wasn't anticipating this question. But she quickly pulls herself together, not letting her surprise show. "I…still can't grasp the magnitude of what happened. My brother and I are still trying to pick up the pieces and figure out what to do after losing a lot in the war. Both of our homes were destroyed and we're just staying with relatives until we can find affordable housing, but that's very tough right now."

Korrina purses her lips at this, knowing just how hard it is. Rebuilding the houses lost and finding places of shelter for those without homes has been one of her man priorities, leaving most of the logistics of the Games continuing to Myron and the other Gamemakers. "We're doing our best right now to fix that."

"I know, Madam," Lyncelle gives a small smile to her, her eyes warm as she stares at the President. "We're lucky to have relatives whose homes weren't damaged, but I know many others weren't that lucky and my heart goes out to them."

"Mine as well…" Korrina mutters quietly, watching as Lyncelle tilts her head curiously at her. She doesn't like the bit of pity in the young girl's eyes and quickly asks the next question to divert the topic, unable to wait for Jovian. "Why do you want to be an escort?"

The pity turns to confusion as Lyncelle glances between Korrina and Myron. "You don't know?"

"I'm afraid not," Korrina answers, glancing over at her son briefly. "I've left Myron in charge of most of these things while working on other things."

"Understandable, Madam President," Lyncelle nods her head once at this before grabbing one of the strands of hair framing her face and starting to twirl it. "Well," she starts, pausing as she stares at the desk and takes her time figuring out her response. "Curiosity."

"Curiosity?"

"Yes," Lyncelle confirms and provides an explanation for her answer. "I've been trying for the past two years to become an escort. I want to see how the Games work from an inside perspective, but this isn't quite something talked about in the Capitol media. My sister, Dannijou is-" Lyncelle comes to a stop, cringing in pain before continuing at a quieter tone, smile completely gone now, "My sister _was_ able to tell me about her experiences as an escort, but my own experiences might be different. And…I need to earn money for myself and my brother to rebuild our lives and I have yet to find work as a journalist."

Korrina feels a pang of sadness for the girl, and for all the escorts she's interviewed so far today that have lost family members to the Rebellion. But she can't quite place the name Dannijou and remember her as an escort. She would have remembered Dannijou if she was an escort last year. "When did your sister escort? And what was her last name?"

"She was in District Twelve for the 65th through 69th Hunger Games, Madam," Lyncelle answers, smiling a little as she remembers her sister. "Her last name was Tressailly, but she was an escort before she got married and her last name then was Ashminov."

"Ah…I remember her now," Korrina says quietly to herself before clearing her throat to get back on topic. "Well, I suppose that's all the information I really want from you right now, Miss Lyrain. You will be in District Three and since this is your first year and given the… _delicate_ situation with mentors, we can provide you with someone to help you. However, if you feel comfortable mentoring them alone given your personal experience with a former escort, please let us know."

"I certainly will and thank you, Madam President," Lyncelle responds, her warm smile back as Korrina stands up and she follows suit. After straightening out her skirt, she holds out her hand to Korrina. "I will do my best, Madam, I promise."

"Thank you, Lyncelle," Korrina gestures to the interns and they still step forward with the same amount of energy as they did at the start. "They'll escort you out. Please bring Prima Oratoria back."

Lyncelle gives her a final polite smile before following the twins out of the room. As Korrina sits back down, she pinches the bridge of her nose before looking over at Myron. "You could have told me before the interview started that she was related to a former escort."

"I didn't think it would be a bad surprise," Myron answers sheepishly, able to tell from 23 years of living with Korrina that she isn't happy with him.

"Don't do that again," Korrina sharply tells him before softening her tone a little. "You know I hate surprises."

"Sorry, Mom," Myron apologizes quietly, putting his head down and momentarily forgetting about keeping up the formal title with her in front of others.

Korrina glances at Jovian and finds them looking around the room, anywhere but at her and Myron, clearly trying to pretend they aren't hearing the conversation.

Before she can say anything to either of them, the door opens once more and Quintus enters before holding open the door and Korrina can see Prima standing in the hallway, crouching down to look at two kids who can't be older than ten. Eulalia holds on to their hands, looking all happy about being near the kids. "I just have to go in there for a few minutes. Be good and don't touch anything out here."

"Yes, Ms. Oratoria," they respond obediently and once she has their confirmation, Prima straightens up and turns around to face Korrina.

The older woman enters the room with a confident gait, her long flowing blue dress helping her do her very best to hide the limp in her right leg. Everyone knows the story behind the injury and it was a tragedy in the eyes of the Capitol – their prima ballerina, injured in a car accident and nothing the doctors tried could ever repair the function to that prior. It was then that Prima became an escort for many years, using it as a way to cope through her drastic event. After 25 long years as an escort, she finally returned to the career she loved and opened her own studio to train future dancers.

And now? Now she's one of the most vocal people in the Capitol against the Games continuing. It's no wonder Catriona picked her to be an escort. Although Korrina is very curious why she even wanted to return in the first place.

"Madam President, with all due respect," Prima takes a moment to stare at Korrina as she takes a seat across from her, not even shaking the President's hand. She makes sure she has her attention before continuing, "This is a terrible idea."

Korrina raises an eyebrow at the woman and gestures to her. "Please, explain. Nothing you say here will cause you any trouble, just as long as you say it _only_ here."

"Oh I will," Prima leans back in her chair, crossing her arms as she stares at the President, not even trying to hide her disdain. "Starting the Games once more is only going to cause another war and more death. They'll continue on for years and years until someone decides enough is enough, again."

"They're not lasting for years," Korrina defends her choice, but she can't help but wonder if Prima is correct…

"Do you really think that?"

Does she really think this will be it…? She hopes it is and can't afford to lose that hope. And yet…she saw the Capitol crowd the night she announced the Games were returning to punish the rebels… The crowd was subdued until some started calling for the blood of those that did this to their country. If any of those people were to take charge, the Games won't ever end. "I won't let that happen."

Prima doesn't seem to believe this and Korrina isn't even sure if she believes it. The older woman stares at Korrina for a minute, her deep blue eyes narrowed slightly. She points behind her at the door she entered, not taking her eyes off the President. "You saw those two children out there in the hallway? They lost their parents to this Rebellion. They're just two of the many children I've helped for the past few months by turning my dance studio into a shelter. If these Games continue, we're going to have another war that causes children just like them to be orphaned once more. Do you want to be the reason that happens?"

"Of course not!" Korrina raises her voice in anger that Prima thinks she wants this before slamming her fist on the table. "As a mother I would never want to cause children to lose their families. But as the President, I can't make the choices I personally want to make. I have to make the choices that seem the best for this country and I am doing my best. If you're going to sit here and keep critiquing me – and I don't even know _why_ you're here and want to escort – well, you can just leave."

Korrina finishes with a huff before staring at the former escort in silence, surprised by the angry outburst. Prima stares back at her for a minute until an emotionless smile forms on her face. "I'm doing this to protect the children that are being sent into these atrocities once more. Related to rebel or not, from the Capitol or the Districts, I don't care. I'm going to help them. Someone needs to do that." Prima stands up at this, clearly done with this interview. "I hope you reconsider running for President when the election rolls around. I think you can do good things for Panem if you listen to yourself and not the people around you."

Korrina is left stunned into silence at this and Prima takes it as her cue to leave, giving a polite nod of her head in farewell. "Wait," Korrina calls out to her before she can reach the door. Prima pauses, seemingly considering if she should keep walking, before finally turning back to look at Korrina. The President now understands why Catriona wanted this woman to escort once more. They need someone that is going to be realistic about this and show the Districts they're not making this entertainment once more. "You'll be escorting for District Five."

"So be it," Prima responds coolly before turning around and leaving the room.

They're left in an uncomfortable silence after Prima is gone. Korrina starts biting at her nail, deep in thought about what Prima said about her… She doesn't want the pressure of running this country any longer than necessary…and yet, what if whoever is elected after her just goes against everything she just worked to fix?

Myron clears his throat and Korrina briefly glances up at him as he looks over at Quintus standing in the corner, keeping his head low and avoiding her gaze. "Can you please bring in Renato Orwell next?"

Relief passes across his face as he scrambles to leave the room, making Korrina feel bad that he witnessed that outburst from her. She tries so hard to stay calm and not get mad at people… "I'm sorry," she says with a heavy sigh to Myron and Jovian. "I've been so on edge lately with all the stress from being President…"

"It's okay, Madam…" Jovian says softly and Myron lets out a noise of agreement. Korrina slowly looks over at them, feeling embarrassed from her outburst. "I think anyone would crack eventually from everything you're doing. But she's right…you should consider running for office when it's time."

Korrina just doesn't know what answer to give to them because she just doesn't know what to do. "I'll think about it," she finally says, being honest about it. As much as she doesn't want to keep doing this, if it's her own comfort or ensuring that the country doesn't fall into chaos again…she'll do what's best for everyone.

There's a knock on the door before it opens, revealing one of their current longest running escorts. Renato Orwell steps into the room, a tired look on his face as he tries his best to smile politely at Korrina. She recognizes the exhaustion in his eyes, finding it in her own reflection whenever she looks in a mirror. They're dressed in just simple black slacks and a dark green button up with the top couple buttons undone and showing a hint of the four leaf clover tattoos that line his collar bones and arms for every victor he has brought home. Korrina knows he's brought home many victors over the years and surely he must be feeling the pain of losing them. "Welcome, Renato."

"Hello, Madam President, Head Gamemaker Ovidius, Mx. Jovian," Renato says respectfully as he takes the seat across from them.

Korrina can see he doesn't have the energy to keep up enthusiasm for this job today, and she pities him, even if he is older than her. "Should we just get right to it?"

"That would be appreciated, ma'am," Renato answers with a sad smile on their face. "And I hope you don't mind that I don't fake the happiness that I'm sure some of the younger ones have done today. It's just hard to feel happy these days after what happened."

"I agree with you," Korrina answers honestly, feeling an understanding with this man. "And yet, the country still requires us to put on a happy face and pretend like things are getting better. Do you think you can do this for another year as an escort?"

Renato lets out a sigh before trying to force himself to smile at her. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't capable of that. I've been doing that for who knows how many years now, whenever it was that I realized that there are children dying and they're not that different from the children here in the Capitol."

"You can't quite view the Games as entertainment after realizing that," Korrina sighs at this, staring at the man in front of her. Exhaustion is all over his face and his frown only emphasizes the lines of his aging face. And his unnaturally bright green eyes are just filled with a deep sadness that Korrina doesn't think she's capable of fixing. "Do you even want the Games continuing?"

"I'm neutral about it, ma'am, but…" Renato trails off, clearly hesitating if he wants to keep talking and be honest with her. "I won't complain when the Games end and it is finally time for me to retire."

"That makes two of us," Korrina gives a half-hearted chuckle at this, but retirement can't come soon enough for her. But first, she has to get through this mess of a Games and hope she isn't just starting another war. She's worried about some of the escorts in the Districts, but not Renato. He's built a deep respect for him amongst the civilians where he's heading back to and Korrina needs the proud District to stay controlled. "We're keeping you in District Two," Korrina tells him and he nods his head at this. "We honestly don't know what is going to happen there this year… You know from being there for years how proud they are. I think you're the best choice for them and can help make sure things run smoothly. I'd also like for you to watch out for the new escorts and help them out this year, just like you've done in the past."

"I'll do whatever you ask of me," Renato answers, not quite happy with this. "I'm still proud to be there after so many years of working to get there, but I can't pretend that it won't upset me to return there and not be greeted by the many victors I called friends."

"I knew a lot of them too…" Korrina says quietly, her heart hurting for Renato. "I called a few of them friends too. Well, they were more friends with Elaine and I knew them through her…" She trails off, surprised that she brought up Elaine… She tries so hard not to talk about her in the hopes that if she doesn't say out loud that she's gone, she can pretend it's not true. She reaches out for her son's hand, needing the comfort of her one living family member right now. "I so badly wish I could have stopped the victor purge. If I could go back and stop that from happening, I would in an instant."

"Likewise, Madam President," Renato shakily agrees before taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He puts on his best attempt at a smile. "I'll do my best to mentor the tributes this year, no matter if they're trained or not. I'll do my best to live up to the legacy of my friends."

"Thank you, Renato," Korrina responds, trying to keep her emotions off of her face. She stands up, wanting to shake this man's hand because he has earned her respect today. He slowly takes her hand but firmly shakes it, clearly trying his best. "All we can do is keep trying our best to remember those lost. And please, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Be it someone to help mentor or someone to talk to, we'll help."

Renato's bright green eyes get a bit glossy at this and he nods his head a couple times before letting go of her hand and looking down at the ground. "Thank you, Madam President. You don't know how much that means to me."

Korrina smiles at him before he steps back, avoiding eye contact with Jovian and Myron. Quintus opens the door for him and waits before following him out, looking back at Korrina. "Ma'am?"

Korrina lets out a loud sigh, knowing she's reached the interview she's been dreading this whole time. But she can't put it off any longer. "Please get Ken Blazeus Boors Shamon and it's probably best if you don't say anything else to him. Actually, don't say anything to him other than calling his name. Got it?"

Quintus nervously nods his head at this and leaves, his sister following after him nervously. Korrina turns her attention to Jovian, genuinely afraid for them with how Blazeus is. "Jovian…I don't think you should be here for this interview. He's going to be brutal and not care if he is insulting you. And I don't want him to backtrack in five minutes the progress you have made over the past few months."

Jovian's face pales at this and they nod their head as they shakily stand up. "Okay, but please let me know when his interview is done so I can return."

"I will," Korrina reassures them before turning to Myron, ready to send him away as well.

But he holds up a hand to stop her before she can even speak. "Mom, no way am I letting you face him alone. I worked with him as a Gamemaker for two years and what he did…" Myron shakes his head and Korrina hates seeing her son look afraid right now. "He won't harm us physical, he knows not to go against the rules. But he won't hold his tongue."

"Well neither will I," Korrina tries to answer confidently, but they both know she's a little afraid of the man she's about to interview. "I'm making this as short as possible and using it to tell him what he can't do. I don't trust him to treat the tributes well."

Korrina stops talking when she hears heavy footsteps approaching and does her best to keep her face blank. She folds her hands into her lap, ready to be as polite and formal as possible, even if this man might not do the same to her.

The door swings open quickly, nearly slamming into the wall, and the man that saunters in does not look like he is approaching 80 at all. Blazeus has a staggering height, towering well over even Myron, and he stands straight with the rigor of someone who has been in the military. His red-orange skin stands in stark contrast to the long, dirty white hair flowing openly to the end of his back. He wears a red polo with a vest over it with fur the same color of his hair, similar color pants with furry gold boots to match the golden pendant he wears. But the feature that stands out are the tight metal gloves stretching up to his elbows. There have been many rumors over the years of why he wears the gloves and as President, Korrina was finally granted access to the true reason: the gloves hide the years of burns from playing with fire. Burns that not even Capitol medicine can fix.

Blazeus Shamon has made a lifetime career out of serving the Capitol, starting with thirty years as an escort starting when he was eighteen, followed by another thirty years as a Gamemaker. Thankfully Snow never elected this man to be Head Gamemaker, otherwise the Games would have been absolutely brutal. The man even fought in the war and the stories Korrina has heard about what he did to rebels makes her shudder. And now he's back to his roots as an escort when the Hunger Games are about punishing rebels.

Blazeus stops halfway into the room, staring down at Korrina with disgust in his eyes and a hint of a sneer on his face.

"Sit," Korrina commands, gesturing to the seat in front of her.

"I'd rather stand," Blazeus puts his hands behind his back, effectively revealing the muscles in his arms. "Quite frankly, you disgust me and I don't want to be near you any longer than necessary."

Korrina is baffled by his response and she stands up as tall as her short frame will allow her to meet his gaze. She refuses to be looked down by him. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me correctly," Blazeus answers without breaking her gaze. "I'm disgusted by how lenient you are towards the rebels. They all should perish in the worst way possible for what they did. Every adult and child involved in the rebellion should be executed for rebelling against the Capitol that has provided them with everything they need. And yet," his sneer grows as he stares down at her as if she's a cockroach on the ground in front of him, not the President of Panem, "You're letting them get away without maximum punishment. And you want to end the Hunger Games after the rebels have been punished? They're the best part of our country and deserve to continue on. These Games could be the start of a great legacy, but you have a poor leader. I could do a much better job than your pathetic son who is too busy doing whatever disgusting things they do with men. I don't know what's worst, what he does or what you do with women."

Korrina so badly wants to look over at her son to make sure he's okay after that comment, but she refuses to look away from Blazeus. Not after he insulted her son and herself. "Insult me one more time and I will never let you be an escort or any other job in power within the Capitol."

They stare each other down for a minute, Blazeus clearly internally debating the advantages and disadvantages of what will happen if he continues to speak his mind. But when he remains silently fuming, Korrina takes it as a sign that he is listening to her and continues on, ready to end this interview already. "You will be escorting in District Seven and I have very strict rules. You are not to harm the tributes in any way. You are not to harm any civilians in District Seven, regardless of their views. You are not to insult myself, my son, or any other person involved in these Games because of their gender or sexuality. If you don't think I am serious about this, go ahead and try to insult me again. See what happens."

Blazeus stays silent at this, his blue eyes fuming with rage towards her. Korrina is almost hoping he'll say something to her now so she can remove him from this job. "Very well," Blazeus answers monotonously, still meeting her eye contact while barely blinking, clearly trying to unnerve her. "I will follow your rules. But know that the Games are going to continue. Our country loves the bloodshed way too much to stop these events from continuing. You'll see."

"The Games are not going to continue past punishing the rebels. Not on my watch," Korrina says coolly, done listening to this man continue to talk about so much violence. "You're dismissed."

It's clear he doesn't believe her and wants to say something to her, but he's doing as he's told and simply turns around, revealing a hint of sparks coming from his metal gloves before he stomps out of the room.

"Fuck him," Korrina mutters under her breath once the door is shut behind Blazeus, just needing to get out her pent up anger towards the terrible man. She shuts her eyes as she sits back down, so exhausted from dealing with him. She is not allowing him to escort past this year. She doesn't care what Basilius or the council says, she won't allow it. "Why did you put him in Seven?" Korrina asks Myron, finally opening her eyes to look over at him. "You're sending the biggest loyalist into the heart of the rebels!"

"I didn't choose that…" Myron hesitantly says, clearly upset right now as a result of Blazeus. "Basilius did, claiming he will be the best to keep any rebels controlled."

"Or he'll start a fight," Korrina shakes her head at this before studying her son not as a President, but as a mother. "Are you okay after what he said?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine…" Myron responds quietly, clearly not fine with it. "He's said a lot worse things to me before as a Gamemaker. I'm more upset at what he said about you."

"I'd rather he insult me all day than you," Korrina places a hand on Myron's, giving his hand a small squeeze. "God, I'm so glad I sent Jovian out for that. Speaking off," she lets go of Myron's hand to press the button on the intercom sitting on the desk to call for the interns. "Eulalia and Quintus, please bring Jovian and Cantus Turner to the Head Gamemaker's office."

Korrina leans back in her chair, sighing heavily as she waits for the final interview. "I'm glad we're ending with Cantus, not Blazeus. Also I want extra Peacekeepers around Blazeus. I don't trust him to actually listen to what I said."

"That's fair," Myron responds as the door opens and first enters Jovian and Quintus. The young host keeps their eyes down as they return to their spot, occasionally glancing up curiously at them, clearly wanting to ask how the interview went but too afraid to ask. "Welcome back, Jovian. Just one more to go and then we can go eat some food."

"Oh, I, uh…snacked in that break," Jovian answers sheepishly before frowning a little. "Sorry, I should have brought you something back."

"No worries, we'll be done shortly," Myron grins over at the host as the voices of Eulalia and Cantus make their way to them through the open door.

"No, no, you can't just wave the baton around with no direction," Cantus chuckles as they enter the room. Eulalia holds the music teacher's baton as Cantus tries to gesture the proper way of using it. "You have to do it this way or you're going to poke someone's eye out."

"Maybe I should just let you have it then," Eulalia grins at the man as she hands him back his baton. "We learned years ago that I'm not very musically inclined."

"Ah nonsense," Cantus grins at the young girl, putting all his focus on her while talking to her, despite the others in the room. "I always say that anyone can learn music, regardless of their age."

"Perhaps another time," Eulalia looks excited at the thought and Cantus nods his head happily at her.

"Of course," Cantus says before finally turning his attention to Korrina. "Madam President! Hello there."

"Hello, Cantus," Korrina answers as the music teacher makes his way over to the desk, very much looking like a school teacher. He's dressed nicely, wearing black slacks and a white button up shirt with a maroon sweater vest over it. Like always, he has on a tie with music notes on it, this time a black tie covered in pink music notes and guitars. His hair is styled neatly, combed to the side, and the blue turning to green is one of the only signs in his appearance that he is from the Capitol. "Thank you for waiting so long."

"Ah, it's not a problem at all," Cantus replies as he takes his seat, pushing up his wiry round glasses as they slip down his nose. Up close, Korrina can see the designs shaved into his beard today are a bunch of little crowns and hearts. He notices her staring and chuckles as he runs a hand over his beard. "It was my youngest daughter Ariya's turn to pick the designs and like a lot of six year olds, she just wants to be a princess."

"So did Myron when he was six," Korrina teases, glancing over to see her son pouting at her revealing this. "How are your girls doing?"

"They're…" Cantus sighs, clearly facing turmoil over how much he talks about the war.

"You can say whatever here and it's not leaving this room," Korrina says softly to him, relating to him the most out of any escort today since he's a parent, just like her. "I just want to know exactly what everyone escorting thinks about what happened."

Cantus stares at her for a few seconds, clearly not believing that this is the truth before finally nodding his head. "I'm not used to having a President where words that could be taken as rebellious won't get them killed."

"I am not my predecessor," Korrina says, a bit harsher than she intended, but that is one comparison she refuses to have made about her. She will _never_ be like Snow.

"Very well," Cantus mulls over his response for a few seconds, starting to hum seemingly without realizing it. "We made sure to sit and talk to them about what happened… We want them to understand both sides and to know that violence wasn't the right answer. As a teacher, it's so important to have open dialogue with kids about difficult subjects. They're hanging in there, but Viatrix is taking it the hardest since she lost a friend…"

"And what about you?" Korrina asks, aware that he mentioned how others felt, but neglected to mention himself.

"I'm tired of violence," Cantus gives a sigh at this, but tries to keep the smile on his face. "I'm here today to keep helping out others as I have done for twelve years now in Ten. But there are other ways that I could help children than by being an escort… If I'm being quite honest about why I'm here again…being only a music teacher is not the highest paying job compared to an escort. I have three girls and I want to give them everything possible. But, if District Ten needs me, I'll return for them. I won't be selfish and ignore the District that has taught me so much…" He trails off at this, concern lining his eyes, "I am going back to Ten, correct?"

"Yes, you are," Korrina answers and Cantus lets out a sigh of relief. "With how many times you said no to promotions over the years, we figured you would say the same thing again if we tried to move you from Ten."

"Thank you, ma'am," Cantus gives a polite smile at her, but a frown quickly replaces it. "I'll do my best to help the tributes, but I don't think I ever do as well as Margo…"

Korrina's heart breaks for the man as his friendship with Margo, the only victor he ever brought home, was well discussed in the Capitol media. She was a kind soul and she was more or less adopted into Cantus' family when she won the 72nd Games. "I'm sure you'll do well for her…"

"I'm trying, ma'am," Cantus replies, but his voice wavers, revealing just how much he's struggling to stay calm and collected.

"I won't keep you any longer than necessary, unless you have any questions?" Korrina asks him, seeing that he needs to just get home to his family. Cantus shakes his head at her, so she continues, "Again, thank you for waiting here all day for your interview. And if you need anything, please let us know."

"Thank you, ma'am," Cantus responds as she stands up and he does the same. She shakes his hand before he gives his best attempt at a smile as he turns around, humming a sad tune to himself and moving his baton a little as he heads towards the door.

Korrina waits until the door is shut before looking at Myron. "Would it be wrong to ask Dion to keep an eye on Renato and Cantus? They're both hurting more than they'll admit and I think they could use a friend…"

"I agree with that," Myron says softly, staring at the door Cantus left through with an expression that Korrina can't read. "I didn't realize just how much some of the older escorts care about the Districts…"

"It's good that they do," Korrina tells him and he finally looks over at her and she recognizes the face he would have as a child whenever something upset him. "We need more people like them caring about the Districts to make sure this doesn't continue once the punishment is done."

Myron nods his head at this, but stays quiet. Korrina lets out a sigh as she leans back in her chair. She got through today. "What a day," Korrina says as she looks down at the papers in front of her detailing the escorts for the 76th Hunger Games and can't help but be a bit worried about some of them. For some it's their ages that concern her. For others, it's their bold views. But it's done. She didn't have much choice in picking them, having willingly given up that decision to Myron and the President's Council. But after today…she will step in if she needs to stop another war starting. Today made her realize just how much she cares about the future of this country and as much as she didn't want this job in the first place…she wants to do the most with it now. No more delegating important tasks to other people. She's going to be involved with every step. The people put her here so she's going to do her best for them.

"I'll arrange for a press announcement to tell everyone who will be escorting this year," Korrina says to Myron and Jovian, her son giving her a bit of a surprised look that she is going to arrange it. "We have a lot of work to do before this starts and I want to make sure we do everything to stop another war from happening and to prevent the Games from continuing as entertainment. Are we clear?"

"Absolutely," Myron answers immediately, looking pleased at his mother's resolve. "I'll happily find a new job after this because honestly? Being Head Gamemaker is not as great as I thought it would be."

Korrina turns her attention to Jovian and the young host nods their head at her. "Yes, ma'am. I'll do my best to support you."

"Thank you both," Korrina tries to smile at them, but it's hard with everything she dealt with today. "You have both been helping out a lot and I appreciate you both being here today. Now, Jovian?"

"Yes?" Jovian asks, looking a little confused that she has a request just for them.

"Would you and Rena like to join Myron and I for dinner tonight?"

Surprise shows on Jovian's face at this question before they slowly start to smile and it's probably the happiest Korrina has seen them since the Second Rebellion. She hadn't planned on inviting them, but spending the day with them has just made her realize that yes, they have Rena, but they don't have a family to have dinners with like this. And she wants to include them in the few family things her and Myron can do these days. "Thank you, ma'am. I'd like that a lot."

* * *

 **Well, that's a thing that happened. Months of ignoring this and then bam, 13k update. When it rains, it pours, I guess lol. So yeah! We're back and with a whole bunch of new escorts! Many thanks to JAJ, Dreamer, Eugene, Pi, Mik, Plat, and Celtic for Abraham, Renato, Lyncelle, Chara, America, U.K., Nica, Blazeus, Dion, and Cantus! It was a lot of fun working on this bunch (even if it took me a while to work on it).**

 **Maybe I'll have the next update in another few months when I get hit with inspiration to work on this again. Like I mentioned before, this is just my side project while I work on my SYOTs, but I'll finish it eventually.**

 **Any favorites from this bunch? Any surprises (aside from the surprise of me updating lol)?**

 **Next chapter will be a look at the four tributes that I'm choosing to focus on for this story to get a District view at the Games continuing!**


	5. The Reapings

**Chapter 1:**

There's a somber mood in the air of District One, a stark contrast to the normal buzz of anticipation for the Reaping, and an even bigger contrast to the cheery and sparkling escort heading out onto the stage. Abraham Honorious is staying his optimistic self as he approaches the microphone for the first Reaping of the 76th Hunger Games. After six years of moving around, maybe the escort will have finally found his home. While he would have fit in normally with District One, he doesn't this year. Not when the District is also feeling the pain from the rebellion.

Abraham greets them cheerfully, waiting a moment for the crowd to respond, but they stay quiet unlike in years past. He doesn't let this bother him, even staying too cheery and optimistic, as he goes to pick names. "Anastacia Kristos."

The crowd murmurs at the name and Abraham looks around in confusion. It's a name recognized in the District and people don't look too happy as one of the daughters of the former mayor lets go of her twin's hand, slowly taking the stage and holding back her tears. Abraham expectantly asks for volunteers, yet no one approaches. The same thing happens when he calls out Valentin Geisser, and the boy heads up, trying to stay optimistic.

Yet Abraham doesn't let his smile falter as he slowly starts to realize how things have changed in One, with no volunteers this year.

The change is even more obvious in District Two. Renato Orwell once was so proud to be the escort for Two but now…now that has all but faded away as he steps out onto the stage and it's painstakingly obvious how empty the stage is now. Where so many victors – so many of his _friends_ – used to sit, now is just empty space. He turns his head down at the microphone, letting his top hat block his eyes momentarily as he collects himself, knowing later will be the time to mourn his friends, not now. Not when the children of District Two look so shattered and are giving him pleading looks. For many of them, this might be their first time actually fearing going into the Games if they didn't want to ever train… And they are all looking at Renato to not pick them.

It brings Renato back to the early days of his career and he gives the crowd a more somber smile than he ever has in Two as he greets them. But he can't find the excitement anymore that the younger escorts have. Especially when he picks the first name and sees the bold red writing under the name.

"Livia Halperin… _rebel_."

But the fact that she is a rebel or related to one isn't the most shocking part for Renato. It's the fact that she is only twelve, looking absolutely petrified to be entering the Games. Deafening silence meets Renato as he asks for a volunteer for her, making it clear exactly how District Two feels about the rebellion. Until someone does call out, a young man in the seventeen year old section, ignoring the fact that Renato hasn't gotten to them yet. But Felix Veronesi does not care as he takes the stage, glaring at Livia with his arms crossed, before leaning towards the microphone and making a promise that he will not let the rebels get out of these Games without punishment. Renato instinctively puts a protective hand on Livia as the girl looks up at him with tear filled eyes, making him doubt the morality of the Games continuing.

In District Three, the somber mood appears to be the same as Lyncelle Lyrain has seen from watching the Reapings in the Capitol, but she knows that the Capitol bias and censorship might hide just how the District citizens view the Hunger Games. And Lyncelle wants to figure out that information, while also getting into…riskier things. Things she never could have mentioned to President Ovidius, or really any of the other escorts. The only people she can trust is her family, but even that has been shattered…

So as Lyncelle approaches the time to pick tributes, she knows she has to be careful about how she is perceived as a Capitolite outsider. But she approaches this as if she is interviewing someone and puts on a brave face, hiding the fact that she is nervous and still trying to figure this all out while getting money to rebuild her home. She is somber as she picks the first of her two tributes, Meli Shostak. The girl is holding back her tears as she steps out from the fourteen year old section and she slowly makes her stage, and from years of watching Hunger Games, Lyncelle believes she is just full of normal fear, not fear of being a rebel sent in.

Lyncelle politely asks for volunteers, even though she knows better than to expect any in District Three. It doesn't take long for her to pick her second tribute, Alexandros Erikson, who looks more confused than afraid as he heads up to the stage. Immediately, the journalist in Lyncelle wants to find out the reason for his confusion, but she knows now isn't the time or place for that.

No one steps forward for Alexandros, and Lyncelle wraps up the Reaping, ready to start working with these two towards winning while also getting to know their perspective of the rebellion.

Chara Delarosa is determined to not stay in District Four for long. The rebellion has certainly granted her the opportunity to jump straight into a career District and for that, she is quite happy with the outcome of the war. But she can go so much farther than District Four. She isn't going to stop at District One. She's going straight to the top of power in Panem.

Chara has her best fake smile on as she faces the crowd of District Four, determined to make the people in charge back in the Capitol continue to believe that she is just a happy escort who is doing her best to move on after the death of her family. They don't need to know that she moved on from the moment she locked herself alone in that closet when the rebels started to come through.

She hopes there will be volunteers this year. The careers are always her favorite parts of the Games since they always demonstrate power over the other tributes. But she knows she might see a different type of power when she reads the first name. "Ianthe White, rebel."

Chara isn't even that upset when there are no volunteers for the girl – at least it looks like she might have some training from her physique. Chara can still have power over her by preventing her from getting any sponsorships. She doesn't let her disappointment show when the next name she picks doesn't state that the boy is a rebel. "Marius Rioux."

The sixteen year old makes his way to the stage and Chara is all smiles as she looks at her two tributes, just waiting to see what determination they will have to survive in the Hunger Games and hoping they'll exert power over the others.

Prima Oratoria never expected to be back in the Districts escorting. She thought her first time back would be going out to help out children in the Districts that were now orphans or homeless, just like she has done in the Capitol. Yet here she is in District Five, ready to pick two children to go into the Hunger Games once more. But she'll be damned if she doesn't do everything in her power to help these two children succeed, regardless if they are a rebel or not – _especially_ if they are a rebel. Because who else is going to help them? After how much death the country has seen, it doesn't matter now what side these children were on.

The Reaping has always been her least favorite part of escorting. She hates knowing that she is tearing apart a family by choosing names. She can see in the dirty faces of many of the children just how much their lives have already been destroyed by the rebellion, and she's going to make it worse. When she picks the first name, she hesitates for a moment, trying to decide if she wants to reveal all of the information on the piece of paper, knowing it will immediately make the others target this potentially innocent child. So she chooses not to reveal to the crowd that Eugenie Lansky is a rebel.

The girl gives Prima a surprised look as she reaches the stage, but thankfully doesn't question the escort. Surely she knows they're announcing the rebels, it's late enough that they could have seen the earlier Reapings. Prima puts a hand on Eugenie's shoulder and reassures her that she'll do everything to help her, before picking Jove Guthke, and the young boy makes his way up to the stage and Prima knows he has been homeless from his tattered appearance.

But it doesn't matter to Prima what these two have in their histories. All that matter is that she is going to do everything to get one of them home alive.

Nica Cachia has been avoiding thinking about the reality of being an escort for District Six this year. She didn't want to feel the guilt that came with being relieved for landing the escort job, knowing that it would get her parents to stop forcing her to keep auditioning for new roles, keep trying to land new modeling gigs. For once she could actually slow down and not be forced to audition for terrible propaganda that she is disgusted by. All she has to do now is keep this job until she is eighteen and she can then renegotiate her contract and finally just _stop_. That's all she wants. Time to stop and figure out who she actually is, not the perfect child actress growing up gracefully that her parents and agent has crafted her into. This is just another job.

But now that she is standing in front of the crowd with children her age or even older than her, all she can do is put on the polite smile she's perfected and do her best to hold in the crushing guilt until she can let it out in private on the train. She doesn't even know if she would prefer picking rebels or not. On the one hand, it would mean she wouldn't be sending completely innocent children to their death…but she's still sending children to their death. Nica can't see how there's a positive in this situation, so she must keep pretending that she's not doing this. It's just another gig she has booked.

Nica quickly picks the two names, thankful when neither of them state that they are rebels because it means they might actually have a chance. But it's hard for her to look at Portia Gutierrez who is only a year younger than Nica, or Cassian Kinchla who is older than her, and wonder how she is going to mentor them.

Ken Blazeus Boors Shamon is thrilled to have been sent to District Seven to escort this year. No one else is going to punish the rebels as ruthlessly as he will. All of them are too spineless to do what must be done to squash any feeble hopes of rebellion by sending the rebel children to their absolutely certain death. He can only hope the Gamemakers come up with brutal punishments for them without him on the team, but he knows he can do more to secure the Capitol's absolute power by being an escort and ensuring rebels go into the Games.

Blazeus knows that if he manages to pick a name that isn't a rebel, he will say a different name. He knows the major families that were leading the rebellion in Seven, having fought in the war and done his best to destroy them.

He sneers at the crowd as he picks his first name before it turns into a cruel smile as he reads the name. "Irene Wainford, rebel scum."

When the girl gets up on the stage, Blazeus sneers at her before picking a second tribute. He reads the name on it, before crumbling it in his hand as he looks over at the girl, knowing the Wainford's were one of the leading families. And they have another child of reaping age. He'll just destroy the piece of paper after the Reaping so no one can question the validity of the Reaping. "Oh how _sad,_ it's Dorian Wainford, rebel scum."

Blazeus cannot wait to make the tributes suffer in the arena and rip out every bit of rebellion from District Seven, starting with the destruction of this family.

Dion Fushana keeps a neutral expression as they face the crowd of District Eight, reflecting on everything that has led up to them returning as an escort. They were starting to look for something else to do in their partial retirement, but they were hoping for something that didn't involve so much death. Yet they are going to do their part to support both the Districts and the Capitol as they pick up the pieces of the nation torn apart by the war. They understand that the rebellion led to so much death that can't be changed, but they also feel it was necessary to allow the country grow again and find a better balance of power.

They stand in front of the crowd, understanding the hardships they have faced and not wanting to drag out this experience for them. They have suffered enough and they won't let them be in fear for longer than necessary.

Dion is a little surprised when both of the tributes they pick are rebels, given it seems like statistically one of the wouldn't be, but they remind themself that picking rebels is the whole point of the Games continuing. And the sooner they pick the rebels, the sooner the country can go back to peace without this death each year. Always one to let the tributes prove themselves later and not just by their Reaping – or in this case, their rebel status – Dion is looking forward to getting to know Selene Van Gieson and Nikos Stromberg. And they are hoping that President Ovidius will truly be fair and give the rebels the chance to win. It would show that the country is willing to put the past aside as long as the tribute is willing to do the same.

America English is a little hesitant about stepping out without her twin in District Nine, but that nervousness quickly fades away when she gets in front of the crowd. She's surprised how much she actually likes District Nine so far, with its wide open plains of grain, and she doesn't even mind getting dusty. After all, why be sad about that when she gets to be an escort here and bring the Capitol and Districts together through the Hunger Games after they got torn apart? She thinks continuing the Games is the best way to reunite the country after that terrible rebellion.

She cheerfully greets the crowd and is met by silence, but she doesn't let it affect her smile. She promises the District that she'll do her best to get them home a victor, the first victor of a new era of Hunger Games, before doing a little skip and routine in her cheerleading outfit to the Reaping bowls. She pauses for applause, but no one claps for her, much to her temporary disappointment.

But she doesn't let herself stay down and she picks her two tributes, cheerfully announcing to the District that Enyo Wesley is a rebel while Aeson Klose is not. As the girl approaches the stage, America is hesitant about being near a rebel after what they did to her family, but Enyo looks way too sweet to have hurt anyone. And the Games are about moving forward together, so she'll do her part to help, even if that means working with the rebels here in District Nine.

Cantus Turner greets District Ten like an old friend and they do the same, yet everything about the District feels…off. Cantus knows it's the result of the rebellion and he wishes he could have gone back and found a way for them to figure out what was wrong in the nation without all the death. Especially without the deaths of all the victors…

He looks back on the stage at the empty space the victors used to sit, almost for a second expecting to see Margo's kind eyes looking back at him…but she's gone. The one and only victor he brought home in his twelve years in Ten. The young woman who was another daughter to him, who would never intentionally hurt anyone and always was so kind to his children, just…gone for nothing. All that bloodshed to stop the Games, yet here they are.

Cantus sighs heavily as he faces the crowd, knowing they need him. The two children he is about to pick need him to mentor them and do everything he can to help get one of them out alive. And he's going to do his best. He'll try to get one of them out alive for Margo… He knows he could never be as good of a mentor as she was, but he'll certainly do his best.

Being back in Ten is filling him with haunting memories to the point where he doesn't even absentmindedly hum as he picks his two tributes. The first tribute, Epona Lieven, looks terrified as she approaches him, and Cantus comforts her right away. But when he picks the second name, he hesitates for a moment, struggling with the choice of announcing to everyone that Pan Breslin is a rebel. If he's just a relative or has changed his ways, is it fair for Cantus to label him as that? Yet…the Capitol did this for a reason. So Cantus hesitantly announces that Pan is a rebel, yet also promises that this will not change how he mentors him and the escort will still do everything he can to help him out.

After all, that's what Margo would have done if she was here.

U.K. English couldn't be farther from the attitude of his twin as he handles the District Eleven Reaping. Part of him hopes that his sister won't do anything to get an angry mob attacking her. She was too excited at the prospect of being an escort and dragged him into it, and now here he is, in the lowest District and participating in something he doesn't support. Not after the failed Second Rebellion that caused him so much loss.

At least the crowd seems to appreciate his somber mood. The poor District doesn't need a cheery and peppy escort after they suffered worse than all of the remaining Districts.

U.K. doesn't want to be here, so he quickly gets the picking of names over with, hoping no one will cause an unnecessary scene and just deal with being chosen because things are never going to get better after that war. He stares at the names for a few long seconds, trying to determine how he feels about picking rebels… Were they involved in any way with the death of his parents and his two close friends? Or are they just innocent children that got caught up in this because of their family, just like he got caught up in escorting?

Or does it not matter in the grand scheme of things? It probably doesn't matter.

U.K. calls up Vita Delaper and Sigurd Kany, and no one volunteers for the younger kids. Everyone just wants to look out for themselves now that the rebellion has failed and the country has to face the consequences of their actions.

* * *

 **Wow what's this? A Hysteria update? I know, try not to be too surprised, I'm just as surprised as you are XD So yeah, here we are once again with a look at the Reapings for the first Games after the Second Rebellion. I decided to give a short look at each escort for all eleven Reapings instead of doing POVs from a couple of my tributes because honestly the point of this story isn't the Games lol. It's more so what happens in the Capitol to make the Games continue.**

 **So that being said, not sure how many chapters this story will actually have (or when the next update will be lol). Next we'll take a look at the chariots and how Korrina is handling the Games starting once more.**


	6. Tradition

**Chapter 2:**

 _Korrina Ovidius, Interim President of Panem_

Everything has gone smoothly so far, which terrifies Korrina instead of reassuring her. She thought they would have people fighting them at every turn about the Games coming back, refusing to sit back and let their children be taken as punishment for their actions. But they did just sit back. They didn't fight against her or try to start another war. All of them have just been so…defeated by what has happened to the country, broken from the loss both sides experienced. Yet the Capitol has seemed almost…reinvigorated with the start of the Hunger Games. She doesn't know which reaction would have scared her more: them fighting her or this acceptance.

Korrina didn't know how much to keep or change regarding the Games, walking the fine line between the comfort of tradition and glorification of the death of children as entertainment. So she listened to the people around her, too scared of making bold choices for herself and making the wrong decision with how new she is to this whole thing. But as she sits up in the Presidential box looking over the City Circle with her son at her side – her son who is the _Head Gamemaker_ – a pit of anxiety is slowly building up inside of her as they wait for the first of the Hunger Games traditions.

"This is a bad idea," Korrina whispers to her son as they both stare out at the waiting Capitol crowd, trying to get a gage of their emotions as they wait for the tributes to make their first appearance in the Capitol. "We shouldn't have done the chariots."

"It is, but it is too late to change it now," Myron answers with a sigh.

"I'm the President, I could still stop it," Korrina turns to face her son, both of them a little surprised at her really starting to embrace the role of president for the first time.

Myron gives a sad smile before gesturing out at the crowd waiting below them, "Yes, you could stop it now, but then you run the risk of upsetting all of the gathered people that are here and waiting for this. You can't afford to upset them when the full election will be coming up in a few months. They need _normalcy_. This," Myron waves his hand around them, "The whole Games is what is their normal. And after all the loss and terror of the war…these people finally don't look broken. Don't take that away from them."

Korrina stares at her son for a long moment, wondering when her little boy grew up so much and got so wise, before letting out a heavy sigh. "You're right… And I should have you on my council, not leading the Gamemakers. When did you get so wise about this?"

"I've had a lot of time to think about the Games and what we're doing," Myron answers quietly, a bitterness lingering in his voice. Korrina reaches out to put her hand over his, once again feeling guilty for what she is putting her son through by making him the Head Gamemaker. He looks down at her hand over his for a second before turning his gaze back at her and giving a forced smile. "But we are too far along now to go back. We might have another rebellion on our hands from the Capitolites if we told them now that the Games were cancelled."

"I'm afraid you might be right," Korrina says mostly to herself as she turns her attention to the crowd gathered below. "All we can do now is make sure we keep reminding them that this is a punishment for the rebellion, not just a continuation of entertainment for the Capitol."

"And we will," Myron tells her as one of the events she could have done without begins.

Korrina had made very strict rules when she finally agreed to have the chariot rides as part of the Hunger Games and she is just hoping she doesn't regret having them at all. The stylists could not do any flashy or avant-garde outfits that would make this entertainment instead of just presenting the tributes collectively for the first time to the country. They were all being placed in the same simple black suit. No glitter or feathers or glam. Just…all black to mourn the loss the entire country faced.

Korrina and the crowd don't seem quite sure how to react to the first chariot appearing with the District One tributes. Anastasia hesitates at the people waiting but Valentin soon starts to give some slow waves, and it doesn't take long for the crowd to start cheering for them. Anastasia soon follows his actions and the noise only grows.

Korrina and Myron share a look at the reaction, both not sure if it is a good thing or not. But she soon learns it is most definitely not a good thing when the District Two pair come into view. At first, their cheers linger, even growing a bit at the excitement for their only volunteer Felix. But soon people start to yell at Livia, screaming all sorts of terrible things at someone who is only _twelve_ , all because she was labeled a rebel. The girl is clearly crying in fear as she sinks down into the chariot to hide from their view and Felix sneers down at her, making his opinion on the rebels very clear.

"Watch him," Korrina says coolly to her son, not taking her eyes off of the volunteer. "We don't need more discourse between loyalists and rebels when we're supposed to be rebuilding the country."

"Will do," Myron answers with a nod as the District Three pair comes into view. Korrina watches with trepidation, waiting for the crowd to react to them, but they just go back to their cheers since they are not rebels.

She wishes she could say it remained the same for the rest of the chariots.

Korrina keeps sinking further down into her seat, watching it all unfold and feeling helpless to do anything to stop it. With each passing tribute that was announced as a rebel at the Reapings, the anger in the gathered Capitol crowd continues to grow, their shouting getting worse as they scream at the rebels. It all boils over when the District Seven pair appears and that is when the crowd starts throwing things at them. A purse hits the boy in the head and he stands stunned for a moment before grabbing onto his sister, trying to protect her from the onslaught of fashion accessories and food.

 _What has she done by letting the Games continue?_

"Mom," Myron says urgently, shaking her shoulder. "Get them out of there."

Korrina blinks for a few seconds, trapped in horror as she watches the decisions she made unfold in front of her. She stares at Myron's face, similar fear in his eyes, before sitting up and facing the people in the booth with her who can try to control this situation. "Stop the remaining chariots from leaving and get the tributes that are out there into safety. _Now!_ "

She watches the Peacekeepers quickly make the orders before turning down to the chariots, watching as Peacekeepers start running towards the chariots, hopping on board with the tributes to urge the horses to move faster and get towards the building where they will be staying for the next few days. Korrina can only sit back in growing fear as she watches the crowd, feeling like she's on a derailed train and can only hold on as a horrible realization comes over her.

The Capitol crowd will never want the Games to end. Not after always living in a seat of power and having this form of entertainment in their eyes to keep the Districts in line. They've shown tonight that they _want_ to see the rebels punished and won't stop until blood is spilled. And if the Districts see how the Capitol has reacted tonight to their children…she could have another rebellion on her hands before they even have time to recover from the last one.

"Myron, we might have made a terrible mistake."

Somehow, Korrina has to stop this fire before it becomes uncontrollable. Something she can only do if she gets elected for the full ten year term in a few months. A vote that only the Capitol crowd has a say in. She has to stay in their favor for another few months until the vote happens, all while making sure unrest doesn't grow within the Districts. A balance she doesn't possibly know how they can achieve when she made the stupid decision to listen to the people around her and let the Hunger Games continue.

Korrina never wanted to be President but she'll be damned if she doesn't do everything to stop another rebellion from happening to this country, all because she didn't make up her own mind and listened to others. She stands up suddenly, getting a concerned look from her son. She turns to the Peacekeeper Commander standing nearby, "I want a full report tonight on the safety of the tributes and full guard protecting them at all times while they are in the Capitol. _All_ of the tributes, regardless of their status. Are we clear?" She waits for the nod of confirmation before dismissing her, then turns to face her son who is looking up at her with a mix of shock and awe. "Come on, Myron, we have work to do to stop this country from falling."

* * *

 **I know, what's this? Me updating Hysteria again within a couple months? XD Well, with the writing I've been doing lately for Victor Memoirs, I've gotten motivated to write more stuff on what is happening regarding the early Games! And I enjoyed getting to look at how the Capitol is reacting to the Games continuing and how that is a factor in the Games inevitably continuing, despite Korrina finally getting her resolve to be all in and do her best to stop it. Also it's fun to start developing Korrina more!**

 **So I've been doing some thinking regarding this story lately and why there's times when I haven't had any motivation to work on it (as we all are aware of by the fact that I started this in March 2018 and here we are at the end of 2019). And, well...I think I lost sight of _why_ I wanted to make this story in the first place. I wanted to create a story for myself to develop what happened right after the Second Rebellion and allowed the Games to continue to the point where we are at in the 150th Games. Key word being myself... When I started the story, I was still new into SYOTs and wanted to have people reading the story and wasn't comfortable with writing just for myself, so I opened escort subs. Now I realize that was partially a mistake on my part as it's made a story I was going to write for myself for fun to do worldbuilding into another story where I feel pressure to make sure I'm writing characters properly and giving them time. **

**With that in mind, I'm making the decision to not write the escorts very much from this point on, if at all - I don't want to make any promises on their future involvement in case they don't show up. I understand if you submitted an escort and you are upset about this, and I sincerely apologize. But I need to make the choice that will make writing this story enjoyable for myself. If you would like to submit them to a different story, I completely understand and I will take no offense to that (just a heads up if you plan to do this would be appreciated). Again, I apologize for any potential disappointment by this decision, but I need to make the choices that make writing enjoyable for myself.**

 **I'm still finishing this story - I'm stubborn af and won't leave it unfinished lol. But it's just going to be shorter than I originally planned and we're going to focus just on a small handful of my characters, mainly Korrina, Myron, the council members, and the victor (who I have already showed in Victor Memoirs). I want to make sure this is a story I have fun and enjoy writing, which it hasn't really been for a while now. So thank you all for understanding.**

 **That being said, next update should hopefully go up sooner rather than later! We'll be taking a look at how training goes and checking in with Myron!**


	7. Play The Game

**Chapter 3:**

 _Myron Ovidius, Head Gamemaker_

Until now, Myron had been able to pretend that he was back in school with his best friend and doing their last project, the culmination of their training. Akakios would carry their team with the arena design while Myron would plan out the other aspects, the traps, mutts, ways to keep the tributes in line. For a while, he could just keep pretending that they were designing an arena for a grade, an arena that might never get used unless he got lucky and the Head Gamemaker liked his design.

But he could no longer pretend this wasn't real. He couldn't pretend the Games weren't really happening when he had 22 tributes in front of him training for the last three days to give them a chance at surviving. Not that they really needed it after they all survived a rebellion. He can't pretend any longer that he isn't sending children to their death.

Yet he has to keep pretending to the Gamemakers with him that he's excited about this. He has to keep smiling to Akakios and laugh at his jokes because this is what they had wanted all their childhood. Myron _finally_ had his childhood dream…but none of it was how he expected it to be. And the hardest thing for him was pretending to his mother that everything was alright and planning the Games wasn't destroying him inside.

Myron doesn't understand how he ever wanted this job before. Maybe it would have been different if he had gotten this job after years of hard work, not after a rebellion happened and his mother needed someone she trusted to run it.

"Hey Boss Man," Akakios calls out as he enters Myron's office without knocking, making him pick up his head from where it was resting on his desk. Myron gets a small smile at the nickname Akakios continues to call him, but it doesn't last long as his friend takes a seat across from him and puts his feet up. "When are we going to assign scores? I have lots of thoughts on this group."

"We're not," Myron says with a sigh as he pushes Akakios' feet off of his desk. He ignores his friend's hurt look as he folds his hands in front of him. "Look, the scores were used in the past for people to place bets. Entertainment."

Akakios simply stares back at him before shrugging, "So?"

"So," Myron says firmly, realizing this is going to be one of the times when he has to fight with Akakios to recognize that while they are friends, Myron _is_ his boss now. "These Games are not for entertainment. Mom doesn't want any betting going on with these Games, so no scores."

Akakios stares at him for a few seconds, an eyebrow raised at him before he shakes his head. "Myron, no matter what your mother says, we both know the Capitol still views these Games as entertainment."

"Well they aren't!" Myron says defensively and slams his fist on the desk, making Akakios hold up his hands defensively. Myron tries to take a few deep breaths before continuing, the stress of all of this finally starting to make him crack. Yet he can't fail at this. His mother is counting on him to succeed. "Let me make myself clear and I am not going to repeat this again. These Games are _not_ for the entertainment of the Capitol. They are to remind the rebels of the punishment they will face for causing so much death in this country, including the death of your godmother. And if anyone tries to make these Games into entertainment when 21 children are about to die, some for crimes they didn't even do, then I will fire them, regardless of who they are!"

Akakios stares at Myron in shock and Myron knows he must have a similar expression. He's surprised himself by his outburst. But he wasn't going to sit back and let Akakios try to go against what his mother needs them to do. "Dude, what happened to you? The old Myron never would have felt this way about the Games."

"What happened?" Myron asks with a scoff. "Are you seriously asking that? One of my mothers died in the rebellion and the other is the fucking President of Panem! That's what fucking happened to-"

Myron cuts off at a knock at the door and clears his throat as Eulalia slowly peeks her head in, keeping her head down and avoiding his gaze, no doubt having heard his outburst. "Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Ovidius."

"It's okay, Eulalia, come in," Myron says with a sigh. He runs a hand over his face, trying to clear his anger that came out of nowhere. He looks over at the young intern and forces a smile for her, knowing she's just trying to do her best. "What's up?"

Eulalia hesitantly smiles at him, yet stays by the door. She clears her throat before speaking up, "Your mo- the, uh, President is here to see you."

"Thank you, bring her in," Myron says as he stands up, dismissing her from the room.

Akakios takes a moment to stand up, too busy staring after Eulalia as she leaves. "I wonder if she's single," Akakios says before turning back to Myron and scrambling to his feet when he sees Myron standing already.

"Don't make me make a rule regarding dating in the workplace," Myron says in a monotone to him, too stressed to put up with Akakios' attitude.

"Chill, dude, it's just a comment," Akakios says defensively and they stare each other down, both refusing to back down from this. Finally, Akakios looks away at the knock on the door as Myron calls out for them to enter. "Guess I'll just get back to work then."

"Yes, I think you should," Myron tells him coolly before turning to face his mother, starting to smile at her before seeing the unhappy look on her face. "Madam President," he says as Akakios leaves the room, making his mother purse her lips at him as she takes the seat across from him. Once the door is shut, Myron sighs as he sits down in his seat once more. "Hi Mom."

"We have problems, Myron," Korrina tells him right away.

Myron sighs at this, "When do we not have problems?"

"Never," Korrina answers immediately as she shakes her head at him. "I think we messed up."

"Messed up what?" Myron asks slowly, really not knowing what exactly she could be referring to and just hoping it's not something he is unaware of. He doesn't need that additional stress right now.

"Messed up by continuing the Games," Korrina says before pouring water for herself from the pitcher on the desk. They sit in silence for a minute, Myron trying to figure out what to even say to that. "Do you disagree?"

"No, I agree with you," Myron sighs loudly at this before reaching over to one of the drawers in his desk. He pulls out a bottle of liquor stored in the back and sets it on the desk between them. "I think we're going to need this."

"I don't think the entire liquor supply in the Capitol could fix this problem," his mother gives a humorless laugh at this before finishing the water in her glass and pushing it towards him. "But we can try."

Myron pours them both a drink and holds up his glass to his mother who lightly taps it with her own. "Cheers to making terrible decisions that might destroy the country."

Korrina points at him with her other hand, making him pause with the glass halfway to his mouth. "We are not destroying the country. I don't know how but we will find a way to fix this and make sure we keep our promise that the Games are only continuing as a punishment and then we're ending it for good."

"I don't think the Capitol wants that right now," Myron says before slowly taking a sip of his liquor, while his mother tips her head back to drink it all at once.

"No way in hell do they want that right now," Korrina answers with a scowl as she sets her glass on the desk and crosses her arms at him. "Which means we need to make them believe I think that too so they vote for me for a full term while also making sure we don't upset the Districts."

Myron stares at his mother for a bit, again noticing the change that has been happening to her. A change he kind of likes. "I'm glad you're embracing this."

"It's that or let Basilius get elected and I'll be damned if I let that happen," Korrina scoffs at the mention of her council member. "He'll take us right back to the Snow era."

Myron slowly smiles at her, "I like this change and I'm glad you want to keep going. You're good at this – way better than our previous President."

Korrina rolls her eyes at him, but he can see her fighting back a smile. "Then help me get elected fully."

Myron sighs and takes his drink back in a shot before setting the glass next to his mother's empty glass. He leans back in his chair and folds his hands on his chest, trying to think how they can possibly salvage these Games. "You're not making this easy for me."

"I am aware of that," Korrina starts frowning at him. "I'm sorry for not telling you this enough, but I never could have done this without you."

"I'm only doing this because it's you," Myron tells her honestly. "I'm trying to keep the Gamemakers in line but you can tell some of them want the Games to go about like normal. But I'll keep them from making it entertainment. And…"

"Yes?"

"I think…that the tribute who becomes the victor is more important than ever," Myron frowns at what he said, hating that he somehow gets to choose who is worthy of living or not. But when he looks at his mother and sees the frown lines that have formed on her face as a result of the stress from the last year, or the gray roots she does her best to cover up…he knows he will always do whatever she needs him to do. "Tell me who is allowed to win and I'll make sure it happens."

Korrina looks just as unhappy as he is with this but eventually sighs and gestures to his display. "Pull up the list of tributes."

Myron pulls up the full set of pictures and the faces of the tributes stare back at them, some of them marked with 'rebel' or 'related to rebel'. The two of them stare at the pictures in silence for a few minutes and with each passing minute, Myron doesn't know how they could possibly be allowed to decide which of them live. They're just _children._

"Well get rid of the true rebels," Korrina says right away and Myron removes a few pictures of the tributes – Ianthe from Four, Dorian from Seven, Pan from Ten, and young Sigurd from Eleven. They stare in silence at the remaining list again. "I think the ones just related to rebels should be allowed to win," Korrina says quietly, tapping her fingers on the desk as she stares at the tributes. "But…"

"But does the Capitol think that?" Myron finishes for her and she nods her head. "I think we saw the answer to that the other night."

"We did see that answer," Korrina agrees with him. "Which means we can't let a tribute related to a rebel win yet. Not until I am elected, maybe even wait a year or two to show that rebels are being punished. And then…we show that we can come together again as a country and slowly heal."

"I like that," Myron says as he removes the pictures of the tributes related to rebels, bringing them down to eleven remaining options. "So…here are our options."

"Alexandros can't win," Korrina tells him and Myron raises an eyebrow of surprise at her, silently asking for an explanation. "He helped with Capitol war technology. We can't have that information out in the public."

Myron raises both eyebrows at this but doesn't question it as he removes the picture of the boy from Three. He stares at the list, knowing what he has seen in training, but hesitating to bring it up to his mother. "About Felix…"

"What about him?" Korrina asks him immediately, voice full of concern. "Do you know why he volunteered?"

Myron nods his head slowly. "He wants to purposely destroy the rebels. We had to keep a Peacekeeper near him throughout training because we weren't sure what he would do…"

"Then don't let him win," Korrina says simply and removes his picture from the list. "We don't need someone that is going to incite the rebels. Do I want a loyalist to win? Of course. But I prefer someone who will sympathize with them or at the very least kill quickly."

"I guess that leaves us with nine options then…" Myron says slowly, staring at the small group in front of them. Their victor will be one of these nine. He turns to face his mother, watching her look at the group of children, pain on her face. He reaches out to take her hand and she slowly looks at him, fear and pain in her eyes. "We're going to make this work, Mom. I'll make sure one of these tributes is the victor."

Korrina smiles sadly at him, "I'm sorry I dragged you into this disaster with me."

"Ah, it's alright," Myron tries to say casually, giving a wave of his hand. "You know I would do anything for you."

Korrina gives him a look like she doesn't believe that everything is really alright. "I know you would and that's why I feel so bad for getting you involved in this, yet I need someone I can completely trust running these Games." She pats the back of his hand and sighs before standing up and looking down at him. "And now because my job never stops, I need to go talk to Jovian."

"Why?" Myron asks in concern. "Is everything alright with them?"

"Yeah, they're fine," Korrina says quickly. "At least until I talk to them about the interviews. After that disaster of the chariots…we're not having interviews."

* * *

 **Okay so we have another look at what is happening on the Capitol side of things with the Games as Korrina and Myron start to realize they have made a terrible mistake that they have to just go through with at this point. And Akakios is Still Trash (TM). We also get a little bit more of a view of the tributes and the thought process behind the victors for the first few years of the Games - if you're reading the Victor Memoirs, you'll know that the choice in victor has been quite political in the first few years of the Games.**

 **Next chapter we're going to take a look at Jovian and how they are handling the Games starting and the change to not have the interviews this year! I aim to get that done in the next week so hopefully see you soon!**


	8. The Show Must Go On

**Chapter 4:**

 _Jovian Flickerman, Host of the Hunger Games_

"Deep breaths, Jovian."

Jovian stops their pacing to look over at Rena and they try to do what she said for a moment. But it doesn't do much to stop the pit in their stomach. "I can't believe we're not doing the actual interviews," Jovian says quietly as they resume their pacing across the studio.

"Would you rather be doing interviews in front of a live crowd or this announcement in a private studio?" Rena asks as she steps up to them, putting her hand on their shoulder to stop their pacing. Jovian tries to smile at their partner, but can't hold the fake smile for very long. "Jovian…" Rena says softly as she puts a hand on their cheek. "Everything is going to be alright. You have a script to read from exactly and then you'll be done."

"Until I have to give commentary on the Games," Jovian mumbles under their breath, really not looking forward to this and once again wondering why they agreed to this.

Rena purses her lips at them before lightly tapping their cheek a couple times, making them start smiling right away. "Just a five minute recap in the morning and night. Only ten minutes a day."

"Yes, that's all," Jovian answers as they step back from her, looking away as they start frowning. "Recap children dying and talking about rebels like they didn't cause all of this…"

Rena watches Jovian as they anxiously run a hand through their hair, making one of the crew members immediately come over and start fretting over getting it back in place. Rena puts her hands on her hips and Jovian knows they have complained enough to make her get annoyed at them. "Jovian, I know how you feel about all of this and you're valid in being upset after everything that happened to you. But you agreed to do this and at this point, it is too late to back out of it and you need to suck it up and get it over with."

Jovian lets out a sigh at this, knowing that she is right…but they don't want to just deal with it. They don't want to do anything with the Games…not after their family was destroyed by the Second Rebellion. And yet…President Ovidius told them yesterday how important all of this is and they trust her. They trust that she is doing her best with all of this and they need to do their part.

Someone clears their throat nearby and they both look over at the stagehand glancing down at the clipboard in her hand. "I apologize for interrupting, but we're ready for you Jovian."

Jovian smiles at the stagehand and steps towards her, immediately pretending to be the charismatic person that the country is expecting. "Of course, not a problem at all," Jovian tells them, even if this whole thing is a problem. But what choice do they have when the President herself has asked them to do this?

They turn back to look at Rhea as the stagehand starts to lead them to their setup. "Are you going to be okay?" Rhea asks them, voice full of concern.

"I'll be fine," Jovian tells her, even if they don't quite believe it for themself. "I promise."

Jovian leans against the door frame, clutching the bathrobe tighter around themself as they stare at their partner, trying to find a little bit of comfort in the fluffy material. Rhea sits on the edge of the jacuzzi tub, testing out the water with one hand and holding a wine glass in the other. She looks so unbothered by what Jovian just had to do and they find themself feeling a small bit of resentment towards themself that they can't be the same as her. Why can't they get over it already? It's been months already. Shouldn't they be starting to heal already? The rest of the Capitol seems to be doing so, based on their reaction to the pre-Games events.

So why can't Jovian do the same?

"I feel like I just sentenced children to death," Jovian says quietly to Rhea as they step into the room, clutching their bathrobe even tighter. Rhea looks up at them at this statement and gives them a sad smile that she has been giving them way too often lately. "Stop giving me pity."

"I'm not allowed to comfort my partner?" Rhea asks as Jovian sits on the edge of the tub near her. Jovian pouts at this, knowing they're being unfair to her considering she has gone above and beyond what they expected of her in the wake of the rebellion.

"You are, I'm sorry…" Jovian answers her quietly as she shuts off the water, creating a deafening silence in the room. They gesture for her wine glass and she passes it over, letting them take a long sip before letting out a big sigh. "This whole thing has me feeling so…guilty, and I don't understand why."

"You don't need to feel guilty and you didn't sentence them to their deaths. Technically, the escorts did that," Rhea reassures them, but they don't really believe her. "Look, Jovian, their parents or the tributes themselves did that when they chose to rebel against the Capitol. Now they need to face the punishment."

Jovian stares down at their hands clenched together for a long moment, trying to wrap their head around everything they're feeling right now. "You know what the worst part is?" Jovian starts quietly, hearing their voice shake. They turn to look at Rhea, but quickly look away, ashamed to see what she thinks of them when they tell her the truth. "Part of me deep down was happy to say the tributes that were rebels. Like I was punishing the rebels that were responsible for killing my family…"

"Jovian…" Rhea starts, putting a hand on their shoulder to comfort them and they quickly shake it off, ashamed of themself.

They shake their head as they meet her gaze, "Which is stupid. The rebels that killed them are long dead. Half of these tributes aren't even rebels themselves! Like that twelve year old being doomed all because her aunt was a commander in Two? Does she deserve to die because she is a child that wasn't able to stop her aunt? We don't get to choose our families…" Jovian scowls at this, feeling bitter about everything they're being put through now, all because of the family they were born into.

"The rebels need to see the consequences of their actions," Rhea tells them, her voice low and a hint of anger in it. "The parents of these children could have acted differently, but they chose not to. Now they are going to learn the consequences. And isn't it better to have the death of a few children now as punishment to the rebels to keep them in place than to let their unrest grow once more to another full scale rebellion that will kill even more people?"

Jovian doesn't know how to answer her, which terrifies them. Part of them sympathizes with the families of these tributes, knowing what it is like to lose a loved one. But another part of them is full of resentment that they sympathize at all with the rebels for what they did to their family. A part that wants to see those people hurt by seeing their children killed in the Games.

Jovian stands up suddenly and takes a few steps away from Rhea, disgusted by themself. They refuse to look back at her, ashamed that she might see this part of them and leave them all alone and with no one to stop them from losing the little bit of emotional control they have managed to build.

"Jovian?" Rhea asks cautiously and they shake their head at her, but don't look back. "Are you okay?"

"I think I just need to go to bed," Jovian tells her quietly before taking a deep breath to steady themself.

"I'll join you," Rhea says and they hear movement behind them.

"Don't let me ruin your night," Jovian answers as they start to leave the bathroom, silently hoping that Rhea won't follow them. "I just need some alone time to think. I'll be alright."

But they know they won't be alright. Not with the growing feeling in them that wants to see the outcome of the Hunger Games.

* * *

 **And here we have a look at our host and how they are doing with the Games moving along. It's been a lot of fun getting to show off some of the various perspectives in the Capitol regarding the Games continuing!**

 **Next chapter will be a glimpse of Korrina and Myron for the bloodbath and what happens at the start of the first Games following the rebellion. And after that, there really won't be too much left of this story. We'll have one chapter with the victor and then just one epilogue! This story has gone on long enough, it's time to end it XD**

 **Next two chapters are already written and the epilogue is in progress at the time of posting this, so I anticipate having this story wrapped up by the end of 2019! Thanks for sticking around and I'll see you all soon!**


	9. Unchangeable Mistakes

**Chapter 5:**

 _Korrina Ovidius, Interim President of Panem_

Korrina sits beside her son with a sinking feeling in her stomach as she watches on the screens the tributes being prepped for the 76th Hunger Games. Only a few minutes left before her decision is permanent and she has to face whatever consequences arise from it. Could she still change her mind and call this off now? Probably. But then she would never be able to get elected in a few months. And that might have worse consequences for the country compared to what might happen in the next few minutes.

So she stays silent, fighting everything in her screaming to tell them to stop as she watches her son call the shots and direct the Gamemakers as they prepare for the launch. It's been so long since she has been able to just sit back and let someone else make the decisions and it's a weird feeling for her. But she likes seeing the changes in her son, even if part of her feels guilty and like she pressured him to take this job. He's matured so much in the last year as a result of becoming Head Gamemaker.

Myron turns back to look at her, face unreadable as he takes a deep breath. "We're all set… Are you ready for this?"

"I'll never be ready for this," Korrina answers him. "But what choice do I have now aside from just watching it play out?"

"Very well," Myron says softly before turning back to the Gamemakers and speaking in a much more confident tone, but Korrina can tell how much he is faking it. "Time to launch the tributes."

Korrina never anticipated that she would see another Hunger Games starting when the Second Rebellion began and she was happy with that. She doesn't want to see more children die. She doesn't want to stir up more unrest. But she can't stop it now. Not if she wants to be elected. Then…then she will stop this. She has to believe that they will stop it then…just as long as they get through this without another rebellion.

As the tributes are brought into the ruins of District Twelve, Korrina finds herself wishing that she would have pushed Myron to come up with a different arena. Anything would have been better than seeing this horror all over again. She is just as horrified as the tributes are at the burned ruins still scattered with the bones of the former citizens of Twelve, a reminder to everyone of just what could happen if people rebel once more. Not that Korrina would make that decision to bomb a District because of the actions of a few people…but others might if they were given the power of President.

The tributes are brought into the arena in the city square, right in front of where the Justice Building was once located. The ones without any rebel connection have been given a bag filled with supplies and a knife on the side pocket, while the rebels have nothing. The rebels realize quickly what is happening as they look around and only see the tributes with supplies and no cornucopia. It's a very clear message to them that this is a punishment against them and the other rebels.

Korrina has been trying to avoid a formal bloodbath at the start, hoping it would discourage the Capitol from viewing it as entertainment. Some of the tributes don't know yet that there is a knife within their bags and while most of them are preparing to run away, still horrified by the arena, a few are preparing to fight barehanded. Until some of the non-rebels begin to feel around the bag and find their knife, bringing a new level of bloodthirst to their faces.

"I don't like him," Korrina says quietly about the boy from Two, watching as Felix has set his eyes on the nearest rebel to him, Irene from Seven. A few spots away, her brother Dorian looks prepared to do whatever to protect her, but fear is still on his face. Most of the tributes preparing to fight are the rebels, which only makes Korrina grow anxious that this will have serious repercussions across the country.

"Stop this," Korrina whispers as the gong sounds, but it's too late to stop. She watches in horror as the decision she made plays out in front of her, the majority of the tributes running away from the potential fight. But when the first tribute starts screaming, Korrina shuts her eyes tightly, unable to watch anymore. But having her eyes shut doesn't stop the screams of the girl and others from haunting her, bringing her back to the rebellion and the death she witnessed firsthand. Senseless death that could have been avoided…just like now if she hadn't blindly listened to the people around her.

She has no idea how long passes until the screams finally stop in the Games, but still echo her mind. Until the sound of ten cannons fire, making her jump and open her eyes to see the carnage that has happened, despite her trying to avoid it. Her eyes search the screens, finding a mix of rebels and innocent tributes in the list of the dead. "They're always going to fight each other, aren't they?"

Myron nervously looks over at her but seems unable to meet her gaze. "It seems like a lot of the non-rebel tributes hold a lot more of a grudge against the rebels than we anticipated… And the majority of the rebels were just trying to get their supplies."

"This isn't going to work," Korrina shakes her head at the screens, ashamed of the choice she made. "I wouldn't be surprised if the remaining rebels are already starting to reform to retaliate against us for this."

Korrina stands up suddenly and starts towards the door, unable to keep watching this terror she agreed to. She stops after a few steps, trying to take deep breaths to calm herself down, but it's impossible. Not when she can still hear the screams echoing in her mind of the tributes, now mixing in with the screams of the innocent citizens from the rebellion. But aren't the tributes innocent too? Not all of them…but some of them. She glances back at Myron over her shoulder, too ashamed of the decision she made to meet his gaze. "End these Games quickly. I don't care what you do, just end it quickly and with minimal suffering. The country has suffered enough, don't make them go through more than necessary."

"Yes, Mom," Myron agrees quietly as Korrina continues towards the door, shoulders hunched over with the weight of her decision.

A decision that is going to haunt her for the rest of her life. A life she hopes isn't cut short by her causing a third rebellion.

* * *

 **Why not have a late night update of this? Well, here we are with the start of the Games and Korrina realizing the full consequences of the terrible decision she made. That's about all I'm going to show of the actual Games with this story but I will recommend reading the first chapter of my story The Victor Memoirs to see a glimpse of the victor's time in the arena. If not, well, we're gonna check in with them next chapter after the Games.**

 **We're gonna keep chugging along with updates for this because it's time for this story to be wrapped up lol. So I'll see you all in a few days!**


	10. In Victory

**Chapter 6:**

 _Anastasia Kristos, Victor of the 76_ _th_ _Hunger Games_

Anastasia wakes up whimpering in fear and calling out for her sister, terrified of the haunting nightmare of her sister being in the arena with her and watching her get killed. She couldn't do anything to stop Felix from killing her, just like she couldn't stop him in the arena from killing Livia right in front of her… She couldn't save her…she just froze up in fear before just running away, not even taking down her ally's killer.

Why does she deserve to be here and alive?

"It was just a nightmare," Anastasia says quietly to herself, eyes still firmly shut and blocking out the bright lights of the hospital room she's still in. "Natalia is safe back home in One. She wasn't in the Games with you."

Someone clears their throat next to her and Anastasia jolts, opening her eyes to start frantically searching the room, tense and ready to defend herself against the threat. But the woman sitting next to her bed is someone Anastasia really isn't sure if she should call a threat or not. "Hello, Anastasia." Anastasia tries to sit up out of respect that her mother ingrained in her, but the President of Panem motions for her to stay laying down. "No need for formalities here, it's just you and me."

"Madam President," Anastasia says quietly, a little in disbelief that the President is actually in front of her, but also a bit angry that she is to blame for her being here. "I just… I mean…" Anastasia lets out a sigh of frustration, unable to figure out what to even say to the woman.

"Just Korrina is fine," President Ovidius tells her, but Anastasia knows she won't call her that. "And say whatever you like, nothing you say is going to get yourself or your sister hurt."

"Sorry if I'm not inclined to believe that," Anastasia answers her, defensive and trying to hide her anger.

"That's understandable, given our previous President of Panem," President Ovidius responds before leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "But I am not Snow. Honesty won't be punished. So I am going to be honest with you, Anastasia. I need your help."

"With what?" Anastasia asks slowly as fear fills her veins. She heard the rumors about what victors had to do under Snow… She doesn't want that fate herself…

President Ovidius smiles at her, "Help getting me elected in a few months."

Anastasia gives the President a confused look. "That's it? Why me? And…why would I want to help after you made me go into the Hunger Games?"

"I don't blame you for being hesitant after the choices I've made," President Ovidius lets out a heavy sigh as she looks down at the floor, and Anastasia takes this time to study her face, noticing the heavy bags under her eyes. "This decision is haunting me…and I have to live with this decision." She looks back up at Anastasia and the young victor is shocked to see her eyes watering. "I assure you, I regret letting the others around me tell me to use the Games to punish the rebels."

Anastasia's opinion of the woman starts to shift at this, believing that Korrina is being genuine. "Then why don't you stop it? You're the President."

Korrina lets out a humorless laugh at this. "That's the problem – I'm only the interim President right now. Unfortunately, the Capitol has latched on to the idea of the Games and I fear they won't support me if I end them right now. And if I don't get fully elected, Basilius is going to just change my decision immediately…"

"Which is why you need my help," Anastasia offers when Korrina falls quiet, and the President nods her head in agreement. Anastasia hesitates, still unsure about this whole situation. "I have a question for you."

"Ask me anything and I'll answer truthfully."

Anastasia bites her lip, fighting with the ingrained belief that speaking out against the President could get her and Natalia killed. "Are you really going to end the Games?"

"Absolutely," Korrina answers with no hesitation, meeting Anastasia's gaze and keeping it. And Anastasia believes her… "After the rebels have been punished, it's over for good and this will just be a piece of Panem's history."

Anastasia nods her head as she tries to picture a Panem where the Games don't exist, fighting the image in her head of Games pre-rebellion when her entire District celebrated the Games compared to now where no one even volunteered for her and she has no clue if they'll even accept her when she returns home. They may shun her…she didn't do much to deserve her victory. She only killed one tribute and that was in the finale… She wasn't a career – about as far from that as possible. But maybe One will never have careers again… Maybe they won't be disappointed in her, until they see what she wants. She doesn't want anyone else having to go through what she has experienced, regardless if they are a rebel or not. "What do I need to do?"

Korrina smiles at this and sits up, looking so relieved at Anastasia agreeing to help. "I just need your support for me in the months leading up to the election. The Capitol is excited about you as their first victor after the Rebellion and you're giving them something other than destruction to think about."

"Ironic considering I won through death," Anastasia comments before she can stop herself.

But Korrina chuckles at this, "I agree with you, but the general population doesn't see it as that. Seeing a victor…you represent tradition in the Capitol. And they like that stability. So if the only living victor were to support me in the election…"

"You're almost guaranteed to get elected," Anastasia finishes and Korrina nods her head. "I…I know how to talk to the elite, thanks to my mother… I can try my best."

"That's all I'm asking you to do," Korrina tells her, giving her a comforting smile that just makes Anastasia's eyes start to water, reminding her of her mother and how she hasn't had a parent's love in so long… Korrina reaches out and takes her hand, trying to soothe her. "Anything you need, I will do my best to get for you."

"All I need is Natalia," Anastasia answers quietly as she uses her free hand to wipe at her tears. But the mention of her sister brings her an idea, something she has started to think would never happen since the Rebellion… "Actually…"

"Yes?"

"Well my sister…" Anastasia starts, hesitating in case this is too much to ask for. But she might not get this opportunity for Natalia in One, not after the rebellion. "Well…would she be able to come to the Capitol to get surgery? For her transition?"

"We'll get her the very best surgeon," Korrina answers and pats the back of Anastasia's hand she holds. "We can set you two up in an apartment here while she recovers. That way you can be with her and also it would help me if you stayed in the Capitol for a bit."

Anastasia smiles at this, happy to hear the President agree to help out her sister. That's all she cares about now, making sure her sister is safe and happy. "Then I'll do whatever you ask me to do. Natalia is all that matters to me."

* * *

 **And we have a little look at our first victor post-rebellion and how she is handling it, plus plans for her future! If you haven't read it already, I recommend reading the first chapter of The Victor Memoirs to see a glimpse of Anastasia's time in the arena!**

 **So there's only one more update left for this story and I'm getting it up before the year is over XD So see you soon!**


	11. In Defeat

**Epilogue:**

 _Korrina Ovidius, President of Panem_

 _Ten Years Later_

Korrina anxiously awaits the results of the election, Myron sitting by her side, and just taking her back to when they were doing this ten years ago. Back then she was so much more confident with getting elected with Anastasia's fierce support. But even now with the victors providing her support, she doesn't know if it will be enough. Yet just like last time, she _wants_ to get elected so badly. She knows she can keep doing things to improve this country, if they will just let her. And she still has her baby boy sitting by her side as they wait, although he has grown so much. Now a full adult, he's made her so proud these last ten years.

So much has changed in that time, but also not enough.

"They're not going to let you down, Mom."

"I'm not too sure about that," Korrina mutters as she keeps staring at the screen, refusing to look away from the commentary Jovian is giving before the results. "I failed the Districts by not getting them a say in the election. Just like I failed Jovian and let them get wrapped up in the excitement of the Games when I should have given more support to them in their loss."

"You didn't fail the Districts. The people that fought you at every turn and prevented that change in law failed them," Myron tries to reassure her before pointing at the screen. "And Jovian? They reached this point on their own. You didn't fail them."

Korrina can only shake her head and sigh at this. If there's one thing in the last ten years she regrets…it's getting Jovian caught up in the Games and watching a broken person latch on to the one thing that would get the rebels punished for what they did to their family. Maybe she could have done more. But it's too late now…

"We'll see how the Capitol voted," Korrina says quietly as the time has finally come. Her hands shake as nerves fill her stomach, and Myron reaches out to take her hand. "This is it…"

" _Hello citizens of Panem!"_ Jovian cheerfully greets the country, all smiles as they get ready to announce what future they can expect. _"The time has come for us to reveal the results of tonight's election for President of Panem! The results are just coming in so let's see…"_

Korrina grabs onto Myron's hand tighter, surely crushing it, but he does the same as they await their fate. Two bars appear on the screen with pictures of Korrina and Basilius, and slowly they begin to fill, neck and neck for a while and going back and forth who is in the lead, until one starts to take a bigger lead. And continues to take a bigger lead…

"It's over," Korrina whispers as she stares at the bar showing Basilius leading the results, knowing there's no way for her to come back and take the victory. Her eyes begin to water as she watches Jovian announce that Basilius is the winner. She tried so hard to get reelected…she had the victors supporting her, even ones that were prickly towards her at first because they saw what could happen if Basilius was elected, and none of them wanted that…

Myron clears his throat as he stands up and Korrina looks at him through blurry eyes. "President Ovidius, this is my formal resignation as Head Gamemaker."

"You don't need to do this, Myron," Korrina says as she wipes at her eyes, a little surprised to find herself crying. "I know you always wanted to be Head Gamemaker. Don't give up your dream for me."

"I'm not," Myron answers stubbornly as he goes to grab a box of tissues, calling over his shoulder, "My dreams changed long ago and all I want to do is support you. So fuck being Head Gamemaker until that asshole."

"Myron!" Korrina says, looking around in caution as he hands her the tissues. "You can't say things like that, he's our new President. We don't know how strict he is going to be about these things…"

Myron returns to his spot next to her and they both sigh, hunched over as the stare at the screen and Jovian talking about their new President. Korrina shakes her head, deep concern building in her, "I really hope he won't be as bad as Snow…"

"I don't think anyone could be as bad as him," Myron replies, grabbing a couple tissues for himself. "But Mom…he's going to continue the Games.

"I know, that was his entire campaign against me," Korrina shuts her eyes, trying to fight back the sense of dread building in her. But it's impossible to fight knowing the outcome of tonight.

She will always be that President that tried to end the Hunger Games, but failed. That's what she'll be remembered for. Not for ten years of rebuilding this country after a devastating rebellion. Maybe they will just forget about her. That would be better than looking at her with disdain.

But at least she knows that she tried to be on the right side of history. The country will realize this eventually, just hopefully not after a Third Rebellion. Despite the Capitol not supporting her in this election, she still wants what is best for Panem. And the last thing she wants is more loss.

"So be it," Korrina says quietly as she stares at the screen and the results of the election. "We did what we could and we failed."

"We didn't fail, the Capitol did," Myron offers, but even he doesn't sound too hopeful. "You know it would have been different if the Districts could vote."

"I tried so hard to get that change passed…" Korrina sighs, knowing that's the reason for her downfall. "But the Capitol was too afraid to give the Districts that power. They know they're outnumbered. And so the cycle continues, the few ruling over the many…"

Korrina wants to give up so badly, just go live out the rest of her life in solitude, but she knows she can't do that. The Districts need someone in the Capitol that will hear their voice and fight for them. So she will oppose Basilius at every turn, just as he did to her. She won't let him get away with this oppression without at least trying to give a voice to the Districts.

That will be her legacy. Not failure…a voice for the Districts.

* * *

 **And with that...Hysteria is over. Well, there's still lots of future hysteria in the country, but the story Hysteria is over XD I know this story has changed up quite a bit from what I initially planned and also took much longer than I anticipated, but if you have still stuck around with it, you're awesome and thank you so much for taking the time to read this!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this story regardless and getting a bit more of a detailed look into what happened after the Second Rebellion within my verse. And if you enjoyed this story, I hope you consider reading my other stories I have going on (if you're not already)! And stay tuned for a new project coming...soonish XD**

 **Happy New Year everyone and thanks again for reading!**


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